92 



KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 



Adult female : Tail feathers not so much elongated as in the male; crown and sides of 

 the head streaked with dusky and pale brown ; breast spotted with dark brown or black ; under 

 parts white ; abdomen and sides showing faint lines of dusky ; under wing coverts fuscous edged 

 with white axillars marked with black; speculum grayish brown edged with white. The imma- 

 ture male shows considerable variation in plumage, the under parts being usually more streaked 

 or spotted than the adult female, which it otherwise somewhat resembles. 



Length, 22 ; Wing, 9.25 ; Tail, 3.50 ; Bill, 2. 



mm 



Mr 



Dafila acuta (male). 



(Female.) 



Ranges throughout the Northern Hemisphere breeding from Ilhnois 

 northward ; apparently does not breed on the Atlantic Coast, but is common 

 in winter from Virginia and the Carolinas southward to the West Indies and 

 Central America. It is one of the common ducks in Florida. 



Eggs are usually from seven to twelve and are bluish white in color. 

 The female Pintail may always be recognized by the pointed middle tail 

 feathers and the blackish under wingf coverts. 



The male whistles and the female " quacks." 



