106 RIVER DUCKS. 



■buffy ochraceous, everywhere indistinctly spotted with fuscous except on the 

 middle of the belly ; back fuscous, the feathers with margins and internal 

 crescents of whitish and buffy ; wing-coverts and speculum much as in the 

 male. Im, — The im. 5 is intermediate between the ad. f, and $ ; the im. 9 

 resemble the ad. <5 , but the wing-coverts are slaty gray, the speculum with 

 little or no green. L., 2000 ; W., 9-50 ; B., 2-50 ; greatest width of B., 1-20. 



Range. — Northern hemisphere ; in America, more common in the interior; 

 breeds regularly from Minnesota northward and locally as far south as Texas ; 

 not known to breed in the Atlantic States ; winters from southern Illinois 

 and Virginia southward to northern South America. 



Washington, not uncommon W. V. Long Island, rare T. V. Sing Sing, 

 A. v., Oct. 



Eggs.^ six to ten, pale buffy white or bluish white, 2-10 x 1-50. 



The Shoveler, like most of the members of this subfamily, is more 

 common in the Mississippi Valley than on the coast. It is generally 

 a silent bird, but its note in the breeding season is said to be " iooh^ 

 tookp It feeds largely by tipping in shallow water. 



143. Dafila acuta {Linn.). Pintail; Speigtail. Ad. 6. — Head 

 and throat olive-brown ; back of the neck blackish, bordered by white stripes, 

 which pass to the breast; breast and belly white; the abdomen faintly and 

 the sides strongly marked with wavy lines of black and white ; back some- 

 what darker than the sides ; scapulars black, bordered or streaked with buffy 

 white ; wing-coverts brownish gray, the greater ones tipped with rufous ; 

 speculum green ; central tail-feathers glossed with green and much elongated. 

 Ad. 9 .—Throat white or whitish, crown and sides of the head streaked with 

 blackish and buffy ochraceous, darker above ; breast washed with buffy 

 ochraceous and spotted with blackish ; belly white ; abdomen more or less 

 indistinctly mottled with blackish ; sides with bars and lengthened black 

 and white crescents; under wing-coverts fuscous., bordered with whitish; 

 axillars barred or mottled with black ; back fuscous, the feathers with borders, 

 bars, or crescents of white or buffy ; speculum grayish brown bordered Avith 

 white. 5 in breeding plumage.— '•'• Similar to ad. 9 , but wings as in spring 

 or winter plumage" (Kidgw.). Im. — The im. f, is variously intermediate 

 between the ad. 6 and 9 ; the im. 9 resembles the ad. 9 , but the under parts 

 are more heavily streaked or spotted. L., 6 , 28-00, 9 , 22-00 ; W., 10-00 ; T., 

 3 , 7-50, 9 , 3-60 ; B., 2-00. 



EemarTcs. — The female of this species is a rather obscure-looking bird, but 

 may always be known by its broad, sharply pointed central tail-feathei's and 

 dusky under wing-coverts. 



Range. — Northern hemisphere ; in America, breeds from Iowa and Illinois 

 to the Arctic Ocean ; not known to breed on the Atlantic coast ; winters from 

 Virginia southward to the Greater Antilles and Central America. 



Washington, W. V., Oct. to Apl. Long Island, very common T. V., Sept. 

 15 to Apl. 15 ; a few winter. Sing Sing, common T. V., Mch. 15 to Apl. 10; 

 Sept. 26 to Dec. 4. Cambridge, casual T. V., Apl. ; Sept. and Oct. 



■Eggs., eight to twelve, bully white or pale bluish white, 2-20 x 1-50. 



