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PINTAIL. 



gray duck. sprigtail. 



Dafila acuta. 



Char. Male: back and flanks mottled gray; head and neck brown, 

 shading to black on the nape ; wing-coverts buff; wing-patch, or "specu- 

 lum," green, margined with black and white; tail black, the two central 

 feathers much elongated; under parts white, — a line from the breast ex- 

 tending up the sides of the neck ; bill and legs slate gray. Length 26 to 

 30 inches. Female : upper parts mottled gray and brown, and lower 

 parts gray and white; wing as in male, but of duller tints; tail with 

 oblique bars. Length 21 to 23 inches. 



Nest. Usually at considerable distance from the water, but often very 

 near ; always amid a tuft of tall grass, in a dry spot, — a deep, bowl-like 

 structure of sedges, and lined with grass and down. 



Eggs. 7-10; pale buffish green; average size about 2.10 X 1.50. 



This elegant species is an inhabitant of the northern parts of 

 both continents, leaving its remote natal regions as the winter 

 advances, when it is seen pretty frequently in the markets of 

 the United States, and is a game much esteemed for the ex- 

 cellence of its flavor. According to Richardson, these birds fre- 

 quent chiefly the clear lakes, and breed in the Barren Grounds, 



