PINTAIL DUCK. 229 



last about twenty-five days ; but according to Naumann 

 only twenty-one or twenty-two days. 



DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS : The only safe guide in 

 identifying the eggs of this species is by the down, 

 which is brownish-gray, the tufts smaller than those 

 of the down of the Mallard, and the pale tips almost 

 imperceptible. 



Family ANATID^E. Genus ANAS. 



Sub-family AN ATI N^. 



PINTAIL DUCK. 



ANAS ACUTA, Linnaus. 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA : The Pintail Duck is 

 another exceedingly rare and local species in our 

 islands during summer. It has been found breeding 

 on Hysgeir, off the south coast of Skye ; and I have 

 every reason to believe that it does so on certain small 

 rocky islets in the Firth of Forth. In Ireland a few 

 pairs breed at Abbeyleix in Queen's County, on Loughs 

 Mask and Corrib in County Galway, and probably in 

 some parts of Connemara. 



BREEDING HABITS : It is difficult to say whether 

 the Pintails that breed in our islands are resident, 

 as in autumn great numbers of this Duck visit them 

 from the north, and remain until the following spring. 

 The breeding-haunts of this species in our islands are 

 rocky inlets in quiet loughs and firths, or at some 

 considerable distance from the mainland. In other 

 countries, swamps and moors, and the margins of lakes 

 and ponds are described as its favourite retreats during 



