310 SWIMMERS. 



appearing in the more southern and wooded districts when 

 about to migrate, at which period they proceed even beyond 

 the Hmits of the United States, being noticed by Hernandez in 

 Mexico. In Europe they are said to retire to the marshes of 

 the White Sea to breed. In Missouri and some of the other 

 Western States they are abundant early in March, and frequent 

 the small pools and ponds in the prairies ; at the same time 

 they are likewise seen on their way north on the shores of the 

 Delaware. 



The Pintail is shy and cautious, feeding on the mud- flats 

 and shallow freshwater marshes, but rarely taking to the sea- 

 coast. It seldom dives, is very noisy and chattering, uttering 

 a quack like the Common Duck, and plunges and hides with 

 great dexterity when wounded. It is also troublesomely vigi- 

 lant in giving alarm on the approach of the gunner. 



The food and nest of this species are very similar to those 

 of the preceding. I have found the stomach in one instance 

 nearly filled with the seeds of the Zostera. A female Pintail 

 bred in confinement, when paired with a Widgeon in Lord 

 Stanley's menagerie in Knowsley, sat so closely upon her eggs 

 towards the close of the period of incubation as to allow 

 herself to be taken off the nest by hand without forsaking her 

 hatching, and a brood of these hybrids was successfully 

 reared. 



The Pintail is abundant in the interior, breeding along the 

 northern border of the United States and in Manitoba, and thence 

 to the Arctic Circle. It is rather rare on the Atlantic coast, where 

 it appears in autumn and winter north of Chesapeake Bay. 



