PINTAIL 101 



occasions in Scotland,, both on the mainland and on the 

 Hebrides. Thus in June, 1881, Mr. Harvie-Brown found 

 it breeding on one of the Inner Hebrides (Proc. Boy. Phys. 

 Soc., Edin., 1881-83). In 1882 it bred m:$tt^darid>. 

 (Harvie-Brown and Buckley, 'Fauna of S^thefclainc!/ andV 

 Caithness,' 1887). Again in May, 1898, several nest&,y?ei:e 8 

 discovered on Loch Leven, in Kinross-shtj;e $SwisV A^i^j 

 Scot. Nat. Hist., 1898, p. 162). The Pintail may also have' 

 bred in the Outer Hebrides (Harvie-Brown, ' Avifauna 

 Of The Outer Hebrides/ 1888-1902; Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 

 1902-3). 



With regard to the breeding of the Pintail in Ireland 

 Mr. Ussher writes : " Lord Castletown has an egg measuring 

 2'14 x 1'6 in., which he informs me he took when a boy 

 from a Pintail's nest near Granston, and this is the only 

 instance I can cite of its breeding near Abbeyleix." 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, the Pintail breeds 

 freely in Northern Europe (including Iceland), Asia and 

 America. It also breeds in Holland, and more sparingly on 

 other parts of the Continent of Central Europe. On migra- 

 tion in winter, it reaches to the south of Europe, and to 

 Africa as far as Egypt. In an eastern direction it can be 

 traced to India, China and Japan, while on the American 

 Continent it descends to the West Indies and Panama. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Head and upper neck, 

 brown, reflecting shades of dark green and bronze; on the 

 sides of the neck this colour is interrupted by a noticeable 

 white stripe, narrow above where it begins at the back of 

 the head, and broadening out below until it finally blends 

 with the white of the lower neck, breast and abdomen ; back 

 and flanks finely chequered grey ; wing-coverts, grey ; alar 

 speculum, lustrous bronze-green, margined below with black 

 and white, and above with bright buff ; primaries, greyish, 

 these when the wing is folded are covered for the most 



Eart by the long and narrow inner secondaries, which are 

 lack in colour with white margins tinged with light buff ; 

 central tail-feathers, long and pointed, and brownish-black ; 

 rest of the tail-feathers, grey-brown, edged with white ; 

 under tail-coverts, black. 



Adult male, post-nuptial or eclipse. This plumage is 

 assumed in July and retained until October. It somewhat 



