338 



DUCK. 



that some of these have been multiplied by consider- 

 ing difference of age and sex as difference of species. 

 THE PINTAIL (Q. ficiita). This is a very beautiful 

 species, both in its form and its markings, one of the 

 chief ornaments being the produced tail,T which is of 

 considerable length, pointed, of a black colour, glossed 

 with rich green reflections. This very handsome 

 species is a native both of the eastern continent and 

 of America ; and we shall not be able to give a better 

 account of its distribution and habits in the latter 

 continent than by the following quotation from Wil- 

 son : " The pintail, or as it is sometimes called, the 

 sprigtail, is a common and well-known duck in our 

 markets, much esteemed for the excellence of its flesh, 

 and is generally in good order. It is a shy and 

 cautious bird, feeds in the mud flats, and shallow 

 fresh water marshes ; but rarely resides on the sea 

 coast. It seldom dives, is very noisy, and has a kind 

 of chattering note. When wounded, they will some- 

 times dive, and, coming up, conceal themselves under 

 the bow of the boat, moving round as it moves ; are 

 vigilant in giving the alarm on the approach of the 

 gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of the 

 sprigtail. Some ducks, when aroused, disperse in 

 different directions ; but the sprigtails, when alarmed, 

 cluster confusedly together as they mount, and thereby 

 afford the sportman a 'fair opportunity of raking them 

 with advantage. They generally leave the Delaware 

 about the middle of March on the way to their native 

 regions, the north, where they are most numerous. 

 On the marshy shores of some of the bays of Lake 

 Ontario, they are often plentiful in the months of Octo- 

 ber and November. I have also met with them at 

 Louisville, on the Ohio." In the eastern continent 

 this bird is pretty generally distributed, though, as is 

 the case with many of the tribe, its movements at 

 different times of the year are not generally known. 

 We can hardly suppose that, though it does come to 

 the open waters in the winter season along with the 

 rest, it retires very far to the north in the summer ; 

 because in winter it is more abundant in the south of 

 England than in the north ; while it is very rare in 

 the south of Scotland, and hardly known in the 

 northern parts of that country. The difference 

 between the seasonal migration of insect-feeding birds 

 'that resort to our groves and copses, for the purpose 

 of nidification in the summer season, and return to 

 more southerly climates in the winter, is a subject 

 upon which we stand in need of much additional 

 information. We are too apt to conclude that both 

 are subject to a similar kind produced by similar 

 causes ; and that the aquatic birds which come to us 

 in winter, or at all events make their appearance in 

 winter, have only a more northerly locality upon the 

 globe than our summer migrants. The habits of the 

 two races, their food, their time and manner of feed- 

 ing, and every thing about them, are, however, so dif- 

 ferent from the others, that we can establish no well- 

 founded analogy, or draw from the one any conclu- 

 sion that will rationally apply to the other. The 

 summer birds are, with very few exceptions, day 

 feeders, and retire and are silent during the night ; 

 and, therefore, we can readily suppose that the longer 

 daylight in the higher latitudes, during the summer 

 months, must be at least one of the reasons why they 

 resort to those latitudes. But/on the other hand, the 

 winter birds are chiefly night feeders, or at all events 

 feeders in the morning and evening twilights, and that 

 they remain inactive during the day, even when they 



have the severest labour to perform. It must Iw 

 understood, however, that their labours in the rearing 

 of their broods are very light compared with those of 

 the warblers in the groves. They do not expend so 

 much care in the forming of their nests, and at that 

 season they have very little wing work ; neither do 

 they require to collect and carry food for their yoiing, 

 as is done by all birds whose habit it is to remain in 

 the nest till their feathers of flight are nearly per- 

 fected. Thus, the rearing of a single sparrow, or 

 swallow, perhaps, costs its parents more hard labour 

 than the rearing of the largest brood of wild ducks. 

 The migrations of the air birds are pretty well known ; 

 and thus it is 'the habits of the aquatic ones, respect- 

 ing which we stand in want of most information ; and 

 when we consider that, in places suited to them, the 

 duck family cun find their food in all weathers, and 

 bear all climates with nearly equal ease, the proba- 

 bility is that they will be found to breed much more 

 indiscriminately in the humid parts of all countries, 

 than is generally supposed. 



The following is an outline of the external charac- 

 ters of the pintail. The bill of moderate length, 

 black in the middle, but of a bluish colour at the sides, 

 on which account it is called the blue-bill in some 

 parts of America. The head is round, and the nrrk 

 long and slender : the nape and hind part of the neck 

 are dusky ; and the top of the head and fore part of 

 the neck rich dark brown ; while this colour is sepa- 

 rated from the former by a narrow white line down 

 each side of the front. These lines are broader as 

 they advance forward, and uniting, form a pretty large 

 collar on the -lower part of the neck, and the upper 

 part of the breast The remaining part of the breast, 

 and the sides of the neck and middle of the back, arc- 

 marked with fine lines of black and white, and the 

 flanks and lower part of the back are mottled with 

 the same colours. The scapulars are long and pointed, 

 black in the centre, bordered with white ; and the 

 hand pendent over the bend of the closed wing. The 

 coverts are brownish and tipped with pale orange, 

 and the wing-spot is purple with green reflections. 

 The quills and feathers of the tail, with the exception 

 of the two produced and more finely-coloured ones 

 in the middle, are dnsky. The markings of this bird 

 are altogether very beautiful ; but as the form of the 

 tail is subject to some variations in different indi- 

 viduals, these have been sometimes elevated into 

 varieties without any just cause. 



COMMON TEAL (' Q. crecca). This is rather a small 

 species ; but its colours are very beautiful, and it is 

 highly esteemed as food ; the flesh being sometimes 

 sold in the London market as high as five shillings 

 a pound. The male is about fourteen inches long, 

 twenty-three in the stretch of the wings, and about 

 twelve ounces in weight. The female is a fourth lighter, 

 and of a smaller size in proportion. The feet and bill 

 are dusky ; and the irides pale hazel : in the male the 

 head and upper part of the neck bay with a broad bar 

 of glossy variable green, bordered with a white line on 

 the under side, extending from the bill to the hind part 

 of the head on each side. The fore part of the neck and 

 breast are dull white, marked with roundish black spots. 

 The belly is white, the vent black ; the coverts of the 

 wings brown, and the quills dusky ; but the outer 

 webs of the secondaries are marked with a green spot, 

 with a white line above and below, and a black bar 

 over it. In the breeding season the breast of the 

 male acquires a slight tinge of salmon-colour. The 



