70 QUERQUEDULA ACUTA. 



especially on the part of the body which was white before, 

 became by the first week in August entirely of a brown 

 colour. The beautiful bronze on the head, the white streak 

 on each side of the neck, and all the white beneath, as well 

 as the elegant scapulars, had all entirely vanished, and to all 

 appearance a sexual metamorphosis had taken place. But 

 this change was of short duration, for about the latter end 

 of September one of the males began to reassume the mascu- 

 line attire ; the white on the under parts of the body, streaks 

 on the neck and scapulars, and some bronze on the head, 

 were evident, and by the middle of October this bird was 

 again in full plumage. The other had then only begun to 

 change, and did not become perfect till the middle of 

 November. 



" The following is the description of a Pintail after he 

 had thrown off the masculine plumage, taken on the 19th of 

 August : — Bill as usual. Top of the head, and from thence 

 down the back of the neck, dusky and pale ferruginous, in- 

 termixed in minute streaks, paler on the forehead ; sides of 

 the head and throat brown, with minute dusky specks tinged 

 with ferruginous ; the front and sides of the neck brown, 

 with dusky black spots, which are minute on the upper 

 parts, becoming larger by degrees downwards, where they 

 are also more distinct ; the breast and belly very pale brown, 

 with more distant dusky spots ; the back and scapulars dusky 

 black, with pale margins, each feather having a transverse 

 bar of white near the tip ; the longer scapulars are only 

 margined with rufous white, and some are powdered with 

 white ; the rump like the back, but these feathers gradually 

 lose the white bar as they approach the tail, so that the tail- 

 coverts are only margined with white ; the feathers on the 

 sides of the body being large, have broad margins, with the 

 middle dusky black, in which is either a ferruginous Avhite 

 bar or two spots, one on each side of the shaft ; the prime 

 quills dusky grey as usual ; the speculum changeable green 

 or copper, tipped with white, a violet bar dividing the green 

 from the white ; the first tertial is brown on the inner web, 

 grey on the outer near the shaft, and a broad margin of 

 violet ; the rest of the tertials are brown dashed with cine- 



