THE GAD WALL. 495 



ball, but not in a line, and may therefore be very soon dis- 

 tinguished from the common wild Duck." By day they 

 mostly swim about in the open water, and come near the 

 shore to feed in the evening. They breed in the great 

 northern marshes of both hemispheres. 



THE PINTAIL DUCK. 



ANAS ACUTA. 



Two central tail-feathers much elongated, black; head and neck rich dark 

 brown ; back and flanks marked with zigzag black and grey lines ; front of 

 the neck, and a line on each side, white ; speculum lustrous with green and 

 purple, bounded above by reddish brown, below by white ; bill lead colour 

 and black, female central tail-feathers scarcely elongated ; head and neck 

 reddish brown speckled with dusky; upper feathers dusky edged with 

 reddish white ; lower plumage reddish yellow spotted with brown ; speculum 

 dull yellowish brown ; no white line on the side of the neck. Length twenty- 

 six inches. Eggs dull greenish white. 



THE Pintail Duck is a northern bird which visits our 

 shores in small parties, during severe winters, and is 

 never seen in the British Isles at any other time. In 

 form it is the most elegant of all the Ducks, and its move- 

 ments are described as being active and graceful. I have 

 never myself had the good fortune to see one alive, the 

 only specimen I ever possessed having been sent to me 

 from Newcastle-on-Tyne, near which it was shot at sea. 

 It is not, however, considered a very rare species, as the 

 fishermen on the Norfolk coast, and perhaps elsewhere, are 

 well acquainted with it. Yarrell states, that on the coast 

 of Dorsetshire and Hampshire it is so well known as to 

 have acquired a local name, " Sea Pheasant."* For this it 

 is indebted to the length of its tail, in which respect it 

 differs from all the common Ducks. It arrives early in 

 autumn, and remains either on the coast or in the inland 

 marshes, until the return of spring; differing, indeed, little 

 in its habits from the common wild Duck, except that it 

 never stays to breed. It is occasionally taken in decoys 



* Willughby caUs it the " Sea Pheasant," or " Cracker." 



