PINTAIL DICK. 81 



this species; and those I captured, I resigned to the care of au ohl hidy who had a brood 

 of domestic birds, but from some unaccountable cause, they soon died. 



GENUS V. DAFILA. TUE SPRIG-TAILED DUCKS. 



Gen. Cu. Bill, lony, narrow, not rnur.h Jlalteneil, swo/lcn, nor /liijh at Oasn, and s/ii/htli/ wulened at tip. Neck long 

 and thill. Le</s, short. Marginal indentations, closed in adults. 



The trachea is slightly dilated, and the larynx of the male is expanded and provided with a hony frame-work. The 

 fitomacli is muscular. Sexes, not similar. There is but one species within our limits. 



DAFILA ACUTA. 

 Pin -tail Duck. 

 Dafila acuta Jenyns, Man.; 1835, 232. 

 ■*- DESCEIPTION. 



Sp. Cn. Form, rather slender. Size, medium. Color. Adult male. Uead, throat, andsinall portion of upperneck, 

 dark-brown, with feathers edged with lighter and showing slight green and violet reflections on posterior jxa-tions. Two 

 lines of white extend along sides of neck, nearly uniting on back, and between the.se is a patch of black winch has green- 

 ish reflections, but this gradually becomes thrown on back which is finely barred with white, and extends to the central tail 

 coverts that are edged with white. Scapularies and tertiaries, black, edged or streaked with brown which on former is 

 banded with white. Primaries and secondaries, brown, the latter broadly tipped with white that is preceded by a reddish 

 tinge on two or three outer. Speculum, greenish, with violet reflections, and surrounded by a band of black. Wing 

 coverts, ashy-brown,with the greater tipped with reddish-brown. Sides of upper tail coverts, central tail, and under tail 

 coverts, black, with a line on thesides of latter, white; remainder of tail, brown, edged and spotted with white. Beneath, 

 creamy-white, finely and f.iintly banded on posterior portions, and moro notice.ibly on sides and flanks, with dark-brown. 

 Lnder wing coverts, ashy-brown, banded and spotted with white. Iris and feet, dark-brown ; bill black, bluish on sides. 



Adult female. Above and on sides, flanks, and under wing coverts, dark-brown, with feathers edged, streaked, band- 

 ed, and spotted with yellowish-white and rufous. Beneath, yellowish-white, spotted on head, neck, and under tail cov- 

 erts, with dusky. Secondaries, tipped with white. Speculum, grayish. Middle tail feathers, not greatly elonrrated. Oth- 

 erwise similar to male. Young. Similar to adult female, and males occur in transitional stages between tliis and adult. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 The male may he recognized by the greatly elongated central tail feathers, and colors as described. Female, by the 

 narrow bill and grayish speculum. Distributed, in summer, throughout Arctic America. Winters in the South. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 24T5; stretch., .SIOO; wing, 9'9o; tail, 600; bill, 

 3' 12; tarsus, 1'60. Longest specimen, 23'5;i; grea test extent of wing, 3 ")'0n; longest wing, 10 2J: tail,8'00; bill, 2-25; tarsus, 

 l-7.'>. Shortest specimen, 2100; smallest extent of wing, 33'00; shortest wing, 9 75; tail, 4'00; bill, 2-00; tarsus, I'SO. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Nests, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of grass, weeds, etc. Eyys, from six to ten in number, ellip- 

 tical in form, and greenish-brown in color. Dimensions from r50x210 to l'55x2'30. 



HABITS. 



The Pintail Ducks are not common in New Enghind nor in any of the Northern 

 States, east of the Mississippi, although some are to be found here every year. They ap- 

 pear to be particularly fond of the creeks that make out from the salt water, where they 

 feed in company with the Black Ducks. The Pintails are more common in the Southern 

 States but the great winter resort of the species is in Florida; here they are not only ex- 

 ceedingly abundant but very tame. On one occasion, while I was making my way down 

 Indian River, numbers of these Ducks were passing over my head southward. They (lew 

 in straggling flocks, consisting of from twenty to some hundreds of specimens, and one com- 

 pany followed another so closely, that there was an almost unbroken line. They contin- 

 ued to move in this manner all the morning; thus many thousands of individuals must have 

 past us. Shortly after noon, they began to alight along r.he beaches in such numbers that 

 they fairly covered the ground, and were so unsuspicious that my assistant, Avho had left 

 the boat some time previous, walked within a few yards of them, and killed three or four 



