PINTAIL DUCK. 385 



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

 middle dusky-black, in which is either a ferruginous-white 

 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 

 cinereous-black near the shafts ; the coverts of the wings 

 plain dark cinereous, the largest series tipped with bay ; the 

 tail consists of sixteen dusky feathers, dashed with cinereous, 

 gradually becoming darker towards the middle feathers, 

 which rather exceed the next in length, making the tail 

 regularly cuneiform : vent and under tail-coverts rufous- 

 white, with distant black spots." 



At the annual autumn moult the males again assume 

 with their new feathers the colours peculiar to their sex, but 

 the assumption is gradual. White spots first appear among 

 the brown feathers on the front of the neck ; by the end of 

 the second week in October the front of the neck and breast 

 is mottled with brown and white ; at the end of the third 

 week in October a few brown spots only remain on the white. 



The appearance of the adult male in July, August, and 

 September, has been already noticed. In winter the bill is 

 lead-grey on the sides, part of the central ridge and the base 

 brownish-black ; irides dark brown ; head, cheeks, chin, 

 sides, and upper half of the neck in front rich dark brown ; 

 nape and back of the neck the same, the occipital portion 

 tinged with purple ; back, scapulars, the part before the 

 wings, and the smaller coverts, rich grey, produced by fine 

 undulating tilternate lines of greyish-white and bluish-black ; 

 primaries greyish-brown : secondaries black, the end of the 

 outer web of each forming a speculum of dark green : 

 greater wing-coverts ash-brown, tipped with reddish-buff and 

 white ; tertials elongated, black in the centre, with a white 

 lateral margin on the outer web, and a grey one on the 

 inner ; tail-coverts ash-grey ; the elongated tail-feathers 

 black; the others dark brown, margined with white; from 



VOL. IV. 8 D 



