421 



DUCKS. 



DUCKS. 



423 



Dafila caudacuta, the Pintail-Duck. This is Le Canard a Long Queue 

 ou Pilet of the French ; Anitra Codilanza and Anatra di Coda Lunga 

 of the Italians ; Spieas-Ente and Faaan-Eute of the Germans ; Aler, 

 Ahlvogel, of the 'Fauna Suecica;' Sea-Pheasant, or Cracker, of Wil- 

 lughby ; Keeneego Yaway Sheep of the Chippeway Indians ; Hwyad 

 Gynffonfain of the Welsh ; Anas caudacuta of Ray ; A. longicaudct 

 of Brisson ; A . acuta of Liumeus ; Querquedula acuta of Selby. 



The following is the description of a male killed on the Saskat- 

 chewan, May, 1827 : Head and adjoining part of the neck anteriorly 

 umber-brown, with paler edges ; neck above blackish-brown ; the 

 whole of the back, shorter scapulars, sides of the breast and flanks, 

 marked with fine waved transverse lines of brownish white and black, 

 most regular and broadest on the long feathers lying over the thighs ; 

 long scapulars and tertiaries black, the borders of the former and 

 outer webs of the latter white ; wing-coverts and primaries hair-brown ; 

 the primary shafts white, and the interior coverts mottled with the 

 same ; speculum dark -green, with purple reflections, bounded above 

 by a ferruginous bar, and interiorly and below by white. Tail and 

 most of its upper coverts dark-brown with pale borders. Two long 

 central upper coverts, vent, and under coverts, black ; the latter 

 bordered with white. A lateral streak on the upper part of the neck, 

 the sides and front of its lower part, the breast, and belly, white. The 

 posterior part of the abdomen minutely marked with gray. Bill black ; 

 sides of the upper mandible bluish-gray. Feet blackish-gray. 





BUI of Pintail-Duck (Dafila caudacuta), Swainson. 



The bill is much lengthened, fully as long as the head, considerably 

 higher than wide at the base ; the upper mandible of equal breadth 

 to the point ; the laminic not projecting beyond the margin. Wings 

 two inches shorter than the tail. Scapulars, tertiaries, tail-feathers 

 and their coverts, tapering and acute ; the middle pair of tail-coverta 

 having long slender points that project two inches and a half beyond 

 the tail. Tail graduated. Tracheal dilatation a small osseous sac, the 

 size of a hazel-nut. Total length, 26 inches 6 lines. (Richardson.) 

 Selby observes that the labyrinth of this species consists of a round 

 long bladder situated on the left side of the arch of the lower larynx ; 

 its upper surface being nearly even with the top of the arch, but its 

 lower one reaching much below it. It* texture very fine, and in 

 young birds may be indented by slight pressure, but becomes brittle 

 in adults. The weight of the bird is about 24 ounces. 



Pintail-Duck (Dafila ca'idacuta). 



The female is smaller. Forehead and crown pale chestnut-brown 

 streaked with black. Cheeks and neck pale ochreous yellow, speckled 

 with black. Chin and throat pale cream-yellow. Sides of the breast 



hair-brown, barred and tipped with white. Mantle and scapulars 

 amber-brown, barred and varied with pale buff-orange and white. 

 Tertials hair-brown, margined with white. Lesser and greater wing- 

 coverts pale broccoli-brown, edged and tipped with white. Speculum 

 hair-brown glossed with green, the feathers having white tips. Quills 

 hair-brown. Tail deep hair-brown, with imperfect bars of white and 

 pale buff-orange ; the two middle feathers exceeding the rest in length 

 about half an inch. Belly and abdomen yellowish-white, indistinctly 

 marbled with broccoli-brown. Under tail-coverts white, speckled with 

 chestnut-brown of different shades. Bill grayish-black. Legs and 

 toes gray, tinged with brown. (Selby.) 



The young males have the head red-brown spotted with black ; belly 

 yellowish ; and the speculum of a green, inclining to olive, without 

 reflections. 



Selby remarks that, like many other of the Anatidce (particularly 

 of the species belonging to this group), the plumage of the male Pin- 

 tail, towards the end of summer, or after the sexual intercourse is com- 

 pleted, undergoes a remarkable change, and becomes very like that of 

 the female. This appears to be an actual change of the colour in the 

 feathers rather than a renewal of them ; and the same change, he 

 adds, is observable in the Mallard, and the males of the Teal, Widgeon, 

 &c. It also prevails, if not in all, at least in some species of the 

 genus Aferguf, as he noticed it in M. serrator. 



It is found in the north of Europe and America ; very numerous 

 at its double passage in Holland and in France ; equally abundant in 

 Germany; in winter in the south. (Temminck.) Selby says, "It 

 is with us a regular winter visitant, and considerable numbers are 

 annually taken in the decoys of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, &c. Montagu 

 says that it is most abundant in the north of England and Scotland, 

 and especially in the Orkney Islands. This assertion however I must 

 in part contradict, as the result of long observation tells me it is of 

 rare occurrence in the northern counties of England ; and the same 

 may be said of the southern districts of Scotland, which Dr. Fleming 

 confirms in his history of British animals. With respect to the Ork- 

 neys I cannot speak so confidently, although it appears probable that 

 what had been represented to him as the present species was in fact 

 the Long-Tailed Duck (Hardda glacialii), which is found in great 

 numbers during the winter in the bays of this group of islands. The 

 Pintail has a wide geographical range, 'being met with in all the 

 northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, and retires in the 

 summer to breed in high latitudes. Ita equatorial migration extends 

 as far as Italy ; and during its periodical flight to the southward it 

 occurs abundantly in Holland, France, Germany, and other continental 

 states. The marshes of the interior part of the country, and fresh- 

 water lakes, are its usual places of resort." Pennant states that Mr. 

 Hartlib, in the Appendix to his ' Legacy," tells us that these birds are 

 found in great abundance in Connaught in Ireland, in the month of 

 February only, and that they are much esteemed for their delicacy. 

 Prince C. L. Bonaparte (' Specchio Comparativo ') notes it as not very 

 rare in the winter near Rome. 



Ita food is similar to that of the Gadwall. (Temminck.) Selby says 

 that its food consists of insects and their larvse, the seeds of aquatic 

 plants, particularly of some species of Epilobinm, and vegetables. 



The season of courtship is indicated in the male by suddenly raising 

 himself upright in the water, bringing his bill close to his breast, and 

 uttering at the same time a low soft note. This gesticulation is often 

 followed by a jerk of the hinder part of the body, which is then also 

 thrown above the water. The nest is built in rushes and the thick 

 herbage of marshes. Eggs, from 8 to 10, bluish-white (Selby) ; 8 or 

 9, greenish-blue. (Temminck.) 



Selby observes that the Pintail is easily domesticated, but rarely 

 breeds in confinement. A hybrid progeny has been produced between 

 it and the Widgeon ; and to such an extent do the sexual propensities 

 seem to be affected in this state by difference of food and other causes, 

 that Montagu mentions a male Pintail in his menagerie which for want 

 of the other sex showed an inclination to pair with a female Scaup, 

 and even with a Bernicle Goose. He further adds, that one of them 

 did pair with a fame duck, but that none of the eggs (upwards of 20 

 in number) proved to be fecundated. 



Boidica. Mr. Swainson comprehends under this sub-genus all those 

 ducks usually denominated Teals, together with the Mallard, long 

 domesticated in our poultry-yards. "As this," continues Mr. Swainson, 

 " is by far the most numerous group, so it exhibits agreater diversity of 

 form among the species. They are all however characterised by a 

 bill longer than the head, whose breadth is equal throughout; it is 

 sometimes indeed a little dilated, but never contracted at its tip, 

 while the lamina; of the upper mandible are entirely concealed by the 

 margin of the bill. The neck and the tail, which in Dafila are both 

 considerably lengthened, are much shorter in this group, which is 

 further distinguished by the brightness and beauty of plumage 

 observed in nearly all the species. On comparing the bill of the 

 common Teal with that of the Pintail, we see a close affinity between 

 the two forms. But as the tail of the first is so much developed in 

 comparison to that of the Teal, it becomes essential to discover, if 

 these sub-genera actually followed each other in nature, what species 

 united them more closely. By the uniform liberality of the zoologists 

 attached to the British Museum, and more particularly Dr. J. E. Gray, 

 I am now enabled to do this. The beautiful Anas (Bttrlias) formosa 



