LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 153 



Mr. J. G. Millais (1902) says that: 



The nuptial call of the drake is identical with that of the teal. The female only oc- 

 casionally utters a low quack, but she sometimes makes a call something like the 

 growling croak of the female widgeon . The notes of both sexes are always quite 

 distinct. 



The ordinary note of the male pintail is a low mellow whistle, and 

 I doubt if it ever utters the quacking note which should be attributed 

 to the female; the rolling note, similar to that of the lesser scaup 

 duck, may be common to both sexes; Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says 

 that this note '' may be imitated by rolling the end of the tongue 

 with the mouth ready to utter the sound of Jc." 



The pintail associates freely on its breeding grounds with various 

 species of ducks, particularly with the mallard, gadwall, blue-winged 

 teal, baldpate, shoveller, and lesser scaup duck. It usually flocks by 

 itself, however, on migrations. Its most formidable enemy is man; 

 for with the sportsman the pintail is a favorite. Its eggs are also 

 sought for food, in some localities quite regularly, for the nests are 

 easily found and the eggs are very palatable. Mr. Robert B. Rock- 

 well (1911) has published a photograph of a bull snake robbing a 

 pintail's nest in Colorado. I have seen nests in Saskatchewan which 

 showed signs of having been robbed by coyotes. 



Fall. — Although the pintail is one of our earliest migrants in the 

 spring, it seems much less hardy in the fall and is one of the first of 

 the ducks to seek the sunny South as soon as the first frosty nights 

 proclaim the approach of autumn. Doctor Yorke (1899) says of the 

 fall migration : 



In the fall migration they differ from other cold-weather birds of the uondivers 

 in returning south before the cold weather sets in ; in fact, the first frost finds those 

 which bred in the United States rapidly wending their way toward the frost line. 

 The first issue to come down in the fall usually leaves the northern part of Minnesota 

 and North Dakota about the end of August. They associate a good deal with the 

 baldpates and gad walls, using the same feeding, roosting, and playgrounds in the fall, 

 not associating with them in the spring owing to their having gone north several weeks 

 before them, and feeding to a large extent upon grain and corn fields. The second fall 

 issue generally overtakes the first before they reach the frost line. They collect in 

 some qmet piece of water, migrate at night and never return that fall. They do not 

 assume their full plumage north of the frost line. 



Game. — As a game bird the pintail ranks about third among the 

 surface-feeding ducks, next in importance to the mallard and black 

 duck ; its wariness and its swiftness on the wing test the cunning and 

 skill of the sportsman; its wide distribution, its abundance and its 

 excellent table quahties give it a prominent place as a food bird. 

 Late winter and early spring shooting was popular in the Middle West 

 before the laws prohibited it, where the birds arrived early, as soon 

 as the ice began to break up in the marshes and sloughs; here the 

 birds were shot on their morning and evening flights to and from 



