98 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



young : Above grayish olive, with a dull white stripe along each side of 

 back, a white space on wing, and a j^ellowish white superciliary stripe ; 

 below grayish white tinged with sulphur-yellow (this deeper in younger 

 individuals) ; a brown stripe behind each eye, and an indistinct spot of 

 same over eai's. Eggs 2.21 X 1-47, varying from pale brownish buff to 

 pale grayish green. Hab. Northern hemisphere in general ; in North 

 America, breeding from northern United States northward, and winter- 

 ing south to Cuba and Panama 143. D. acuta (Linn.). Pintail. 



a^. Lower half of head, with upper fore-neck, plain white; tail creamy buff, fading 

 into white at tip ; lower parts buff, marked everywhere with roundish spots 

 of black, largest on sides; secondaries very broadly tipped with buff; basal 

 half of bill, on sides, pale-colored (rose-red in life) ; sexes alike. (Subgenus 

 Foecilonetta Eyton.^) 



D. bahamensis (Linn.). Bahama Pintail. ^ 



Genus AIX Boie. (Page 85, pi. XXIIL, fig. 5.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult males with the plumage strikinglj^ vainegated 

 with boldly contrasted and brilliant colors ; head varied with rich metallic green 

 and purple and pure white ; chest rich purplish chestnut ; sides of breast crossed 

 by a broad bar of pure white immediately followed by one of velvety black ; sides 

 and flanks buffy, delicately waved with black, the tips of the broad outermost 

 feathers broadly barred with purest white and most intense black ; belly white ; 

 upper parts varied with velvety black and various metallic hues, the outer webs 

 of the primaries hoary, passing into white at tips. Adult females with head plum- 

 beous or brownish gray, varied with white; chest brownish, spotted with white; 

 uj^per parts without black, but with much metallic purple. 



a^. Feathering at base of upper mandible extending much farther forward below 



than above, the upper basal portion of the mandible forming a very deep 



angle between the feathering of the forehead and that of the lores ; depth of 



bill at base much greater than its width ; feathers on sides of head and neck 



short and velvety; innei-most tertial of normal form ; tail half as long as the 



wing, graduated, the feathers very bi'oad, and extending far beyond the 



coverts. (Subgenus Aix.) 



Adult male : Head metallic green, purple, and violet relieved by a pure 



white line extending backward from the angle of the upper mandible 



along each side of the crown and upper border of the crest ; another 



from behind the eye backward along the lower edge of the crest, and 



two much broader transverse bars crossing the cheeks and side of neck, 



respectively, and confluent with a white throat-patch ; upper parts chiefly 



velvety black, varied with metallic tints of bronze, purple, blue, and 



1 Poecilonetfa Eyton, Monog. An.at. 1838, 116. Type, Anas hahamensia Linn. 



2 Anas hahamensia Linn., S. N, ed. 10, i. 1758, 224. Dafila bahamensis Gray, Gen. B. ill. 1849, 615. 



