122 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 223 



Miscellaneous Data 



Longevity: Fillmer (1904, p. 168) bought a male pintail in 1894 for 

 his aviary. It was still going through its annual molts with regularity 

 at the time of his writing in 1904. It was then 10 to 11 years old. 

 Mitchell (1911, p. 476) recorded a maximum longevity in captivity of 

 6 years, 9 months, for this species. 



Pugnacity: Aviculturists (Hennig, 1936, for example) have re- 

 marked that because the pintail is aggressive and pugnacious in 

 captivity, it is difficult to keep other birds in the same cage. James 

 (1938, p. 325) wrote that the pintail is "a killer, likely to scalp any 

 other inmate from a Waxbill to a Java Sparrow." Parker (1931, p. 

 52) found it advisable to rid his aviary of pintails because they annoyed 

 (but apparently did not injure) his other birds. That this trait is not 

 confined to captive pintails is suggested by the observations made by 

 E. V. Page (1946, p. 341) in Natal, on a small flock of one male in 

 breeding plumage and several hen-feathered birds. "The cock . . . 

 was seen on several occasions to make unprovoked attacks on Double- 

 collared Sunbirds, as well as on a Bully Seed-eater, which had perched 

 . . . close to him on a large sunflower. These incidents left Httle 

 doubt in my mind as to who was the self-appointed 'boss' of the . . . 

 grounds." 



Winter flocking: During the nonbreeding season flocks of as 

 many as 100 or even more are not unusual. In South Africa the pin- 

 tails seem less strictly terrestrial in the winter, and I have often seen 

 flocks perching in trees at heights of from 15 to 50 feet. These winter 

 flocks do not appear to have any observable organization, but are 

 loosely knit aggregations. In agricultural areas the birds come down 

 to the ground in old maize fields and in the short grass near barnyards 

 and cattle pens to feed, but spend the night in the trees. In several 

 places I knew of Eucalyptus trees near such farm yards that seemed to 

 be favorite roosting places, as the flocks came back to them night after 

 night. In South Africa these flocks persist until October or early 

 November, when they break up into small groups, usuafly consisting 

 of a single male just beginning to get its nuptial feathering, and two 

 to five hen-feathered birds. In the SomerviUe area of Cape Province, 

 Godfrey (1923, p. 133) recorded similar nocturnal roosting habits. 



