PINTAIL DUCK. 263 



says it appears at the beginning of winter and remains till 

 spring. It is observed at Corfu, in Sicily, and at Malta$ 

 in winter. Mr. Strickland saw this species at Smyrna, in 

 winter. Messrs. Dickson and Ross sent the Zoological 

 Society specimens from Erzeroum, that were killed there 

 at the end of March ; and the Russian naturalist found 

 this Duck in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea. It is found 

 in India, China, and Japan. 



The Pintail is included in the Catalogue of the birds of 

 the Faroe Islands ; and Mr. Proctor says that a few breed 

 in Iceland, laying from six to ten eggs, in a nest placed 

 among reeds and thick herbage ; it visits Greenland, is 

 also found in North America, the United States, and New- 

 foundland. The British Museum contains a specimen 

 from Jamaica. 



The appearance of the adult male in July, August, and 

 September, has been already noticed. In winter the bill 

 is lead grey on the sides, part of the central ridge and the 

 base brownish-black ; irides dark brown ; head, cheeks, 

 chin, sides, and upper half of the neck in front rich dark 

 brown ; nape and back of the neck the same, the occipital 

 portion tinged with purple; back, scapulars, the part 

 before the wings, and the smaller coverts, rich grey pro- 

 duced by fine undulating alternate lines of greyish-white 

 and bluish-black; primaries greyish-brown: secondaries 

 black, the end of the outer web of each forming a specu- 

 lum of dark green : greater wing-coverts ash brown, tipped 

 with reddish-buff and white ; tertials elongated, black in 

 the centre, with a white lateral margin on the outer web, 

 and a grey one on the inner ; tail coverts ash grey ; the 

 elongated tail-feathers black; the others dark brown, 

 margined with white ; from the occipital portion of the 

 neck on each side descends a white stripe, which becoming 

 broader as it passes downwards, extends in front over the 



