NATATOBES — ANATID^ — ANAS. 341 



THE PIN-TAIL DUCK. 



Anas acuta. 



plate cx. fig. 844. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Anas acuta, LiNNiEtfs, p. 202. Pin-tail Duck, Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 566. 



A. id. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 8, p. 72, pi. 69, fig. 3. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. Vol. 2, p. 383. Richardson, 



F. B. A. Vol. 2. p. 441. Audhbon, B. of A. Vol. 6, p. 266, pi. 390. DaJUa, Leach. 

 A. id. Ncttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 386. Giradd, Birds of Long island, p 310. 



Characteristics. Mirror green, with purple reflections, bordered by rufous and white. 

 Tail long. Bill long, linear, nearly black. Male, light ash ; a white 

 stripe on each side of the neck ; two middle tail-coverts very long and 

 tapering ; vent black. Female, smaller, yellowish brown : mirror and 

 vent uniform with the rest. Length, 24*0 excluding tail-coverts. 



Description. Bill as long as the head ; the plates scarcely projecting beyond the sides. 

 Tarsus compressed, 1 ' 5 and shorter than the middle toe. Outer web of the second quill 

 sinuated. Tail of fourteen feathers, long, pointed. Two middle upper tail-coverts much 

 elongated, pointed, and from 2*0 to 2" 7 in length. 



Color. Male : Head brown glossed with purple : bill and feet bluish black : nape metallic 

 green passing into brown. Back with minute angular bars of brownish black and yellowish, 

 giving a greyish hue to those parts ; flanks barred with the same ; scapulars and tertiaries 

 bordered with white. Upper tail-coverts whitish on the inner webs, dark-colored on the outer, 

 and glossed with green : long upper tail-coverts black glossed with green. Tail brown, mar- 

 gined with soiled whitish. Beneath yellowish white ; lower part of the abdomen grey : vent 

 and under tail-coverts black, with slight glossy reflections ; the outer margins white. Female, 

 smaller ; the mirror dull, without the green gloss, bordered before and behind with reddish : 

 head and neck yellowish brown speckled and streaked with dusky. Above reddish brown, 

 margined with blackish : beneath yellowish brown, spotted and barred with dusky ; the 

 middle tail-coverts slightly exceeding the tail-feathers. 



Length, 22-0-25'0. 



The Pin-tail, Sprig-tail or Winter Duck, is more common in the interior than along the 

 coast. It is particularly abundant along the shores of Lake Ontario, breeding in high north- 

 ern latitudes. It ranges during the winter and spring across the continent, and has been 

 observed from Mexico to 70° north latitude. It is also found on both sides of the Atlantic. 

 The eggs are said to be greenish white, tinged with buff. Its food is similar to that of the 

 preceding species. 



