PINTAIL-DUCK 



Dafila acuta 



Plumage of back and flanks grey ; the large scapulars are 

 long-pointed and edged with buff; brilliant metallic green 

 bar on wing ; head brown ; neck and under-parts white ; 

 the tail long, and two centre feathers very narrow and longer 

 than the rest ; beak slate-grey ; legs black ; eyes brown. 

 The female is a plain, mottled brown bird, tail pointed but 

 not so long as the drake. Entire length, 23 inches. 



At different times of the year different birds 

 come in gigantic flocks. Thus at one time, owing 

 to the vast migration of these Phitail-Ducks, it 

 might well be said they were far and away the 

 commonest ; but a little later you hardly see one, 

 and wherever you go it is the Shoveller Duck that 

 is met with, whilst at another time it would be 

 the Teal, or the Pochard. So that to settle the 

 point exactly — What is the commonest duck of the 

 country ? — is not altogether an easy one, and I do 

 not intend to speak dogmatically ; but I have placed 

 this duck first on the list, because not only do you 

 meet with it in enormous numbers, but you also 

 see it represented more frequently on the walls of 

 temples and tombs. The well-known hieroglyph 



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