68 



Birds ok Xorth Carolina 



Genus Dafila (.Steph.) 



50. Dafila acuta [Linn.). Pintail. 



Ad. cf. — Head and thiroat olive-brown; back of neck blackish, bordered by white stripes, 



which i^ass to breast; breast and belly white; the abdomen faintly and .sides strongly marked 

 witli wavy lines of black and white; back somcwliat darker tliaii sides; scapuhirs black, Ijor- 

 dercd or streaked witli bulTy wliile; winR-coverts Inownisli f;ray, greater ones tii)ped with 

 rufous; speculum green; central tail-feathers glossed with green and much elongated. Ad. 9. — 

 Tliroat white or wliitish, crown and sides of head streaked willi i)lackisli and l)ulTy ocliraceous, 

 darker above; breast waslied witli bulTy ochraceous and spotted with Idackish; belly white; 

 abdomen more or less indistinctly mottled witli blackish; sides witli bars and lengthened 

 black and white crescents; uiuler wing-coverts /m.sco/;.s, bordered witli whitish; ajrillorn tmrred 

 or mottled with Ijliich; back fuscous, the feathers with borders, bars, or crescents of white or 

 buffy; speculum grayish brown bordered with white. Irn. — Tlie im. cf is variously intermedi- 

 ate between the ad. o"' and 9; the im. 9 I'esembles the ad. 9, but the umlerparls are more 

 heavily streaked or spotted. L., d', 28.00, 9, 22.00; W., 10.00; T., d, 7.-50, 9, 3.G0; 13., 2.00. 



FlO. 42 



PiNT.MI. (iiilult male). 



Rcmnrk-s. — The female of this si)ecies is a r.-it.her obscure-looking bird, but may always be 

 known bv its broad, sharply pointed central tail-feathers and dusky undta- wing-coverts. (Chap., 

 Birds of 'E.N. A.) 



Rdiir/e. — Northern Hemisphere; in North America breeding from northern United States 

 northward, wintering from Delaware to Panama. 



lionrjc in \orlh Carolina. — Coastal region in winter. 



The Pintail is (inite as cosmopolitan in its distribution as the .Mallard, hut appar- 

 ently nowlu'fc so abundant. Often the two are fouiul feedins to.srethcr, but tlie 

 Pintail is more sus])iei(>us and does not decoy so readily. Its summer iioine is in 

 the northeni regions of l>otli continents. M;my Pintails winter in snitat)le jilaces 

 alonj!; our sealK)ard; in fact, in brackish and fresh water they are sm-passed in 

 numbers only by the Mallaril and Black Duck. 



