BIRDS or INDIANA. 609 



In the spring they are very numerous in March for a few days, 

 or possibly for two or three weeks, depending upon the weather. Then 

 they pass north. When they are present in any numbers in the spring 

 they are found by thousands. I have a few records of March 20-25, 

 when they were abundant. The latest records when they were found 

 in numbers is from English Lake, March 26, 1892. Seldom are indi- 

 viduals noted after that. May 4, 1890, Mr. Euthven Deane noted sev- 

 eral Pintails, mostly in pairs, at English Lake. May 10, 1891, he 

 caught a crippled male, whose broken wing had healed, at the same 

 place. In 1889 they remained until the first week in May. These are 

 unusually late dates for this species. 



They begin to return in September. In 1889 Mr. Deane reported 

 quite a number at English Lake, September 21. Their numbers in 

 fall are but a small fraction of those which go north in the spring. 

 Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., gives as the result of his observations for a 

 number of years, that there is not one Pintail in the fall where there 

 are ten in the spring. They remain, however, until the ice covers the 

 water and drives them further south. November 22, 1891, Mr. Deane 

 reported most ducks had left English Lake, but a few Pintails still 

 remained. The year 1891 was one of several very dry years. In 

 the fall the marshes were dry and the bulk of English Lake 

 an exposed mud bank. The ducks, among which the Pin-tails were 

 conspicuous, seemed greatly to enjoy taking a mud bath in the oozy 

 mud. 



They have been reported nesting in Illinois and Wisconsin and 

 northward through Manitoba and the Northwest Territory. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Eobert Kennicott, the breeding range of the Pintail extends 

 into the Arctic regions, farther than any of the fresh-water ducks, 

 comparatively few breeding south of Great Slave Lake. Both Mr. 

 E. W. Nelson and Mr. L. M. Turner, report it very abundant along 

 the Yukon and the Alaskan coast. It is one of the first water fowl 

 to begin nesting. The nest is made upon the dry ground or in a tuft 

 of grass. Mr. Nelson notes that in summer the Pintail has a low, 

 mellow whistle, which is used to call its mate, in addition to a loud 

 "quack," much like, but less sonorous, than that of the Mallard. (Nat. 

 Hist. Coll. in Alaska, p. 70.) 



39 GEOL. 



