THE PINTAIL 



By HERBERT K. JOB 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 76 



Along the wild shores of Lake Winnipegosis, in northern Manitoba, 

 in a region known as the Waterhen River Country, extends a wide belt 

 of bog and meadow, back of which lies the unbroken, primeval, poplar 

 forest. This forest abounds in moose and deer, and there covies of Ruffed 

 Grouse whir up before one into the low trees with surprising frequency, 

 and gaze curiously at their first sight ^of man. The interminable strip of 

 marsh by the lake harbors throngs of waterfowl of many kinds. Much of 

 it is overgrown with a bewildering maze of reed, rush, 



and cane, dissected by narrow, winding, waterways, 



... & ' . . * ' Marshes 



here and there uniting in open ponds. 1 his is the 



home of such birds as the various Grebes, the Loon, Black Tern, Bittern, 

 and the Canvasback, Redhead, and Ruddy Ducks. Other parts are more 

 open and meadow-like. In one part this meadow is alkaline, and a series 

 of shallow, brackish ponds and pools with muddy margins extends for 

 many miles. Although the clouds of mosquitos bred in these pools are 

 dreadful, compensations are present. Along these shores, late in May, 

 feed tribes of migratory shore-birds in elegant nuptial plumage Sand- 

 pipers, Plovers, the Lesser Yellowlegs, some Marbled Godwits, an occa- 

 sional Hudsonian Godwit, an American Avocet, or a pretty party of 

 Northern Phalaropes, swimming like tiny geese. 



Out in the middle of the pools flocks of ducks disport themselves all 

 breeding in the vicinity. They are not very wild, and one may readily 

 approach them behind tall grass or bushes, and, with a field-glass, see 

 each one as clearly as though it were actually in hand. They are of the 

 kind which prefers the shallow, open pools of the prairie sloughs. The 

 males are in gaudy spring livery. All swim in mated pairs, each of 

 which has its nest hidden rot far away in the old grass of the past season. 

 Some are still laying eggs, and the partial sets are 

 cleverly covered with a blanket of down plucked t>y 

 the female from the under surface of her body. 

 Others have covered their brooded eggs, and are out for a restful swim 

 and luncheon with the lordly head of the house, wh > is too aristocratic 

 to take his turn on the ei^s. and will <onn forsake his spouse to moult 

 off his finery in remote recesses of the tangled bog. Conspicuous by 

 1ar.ce sixe among this company are some Mallards, contrasting sharply 

 with the small I'.lue- winced and Green-winced Teals. That gaudy drake 

 of moderate size, and his plain spouse, both with enormous bills, are 

 Spoonbills or Shovelers. A few Gadwalls and American Widgeons also 

 roi 



