DUCKS. 347 



The elong:ation of the middle pair of tail-feathers in the male 

 Fintailed Ducks. . ,. . „ 



give to the almost cosmopolitan pintail duck {Dajila acuta) its 



distinctive title, and at the same time atford one of the most striking characteristics 

 of the genus of which this bird is the typical representative. In both sexes of the 

 pintail the neck is unusually long and slender ; while the beak is about equal in 

 length to the head, with its edges nearly parallel, although expanding slightly 

 towards the tip, and with the lamellae but very little exposed. The wings are long 

 and pointed, with the first and second quills the longest ; and the tail is likewise 

 sharply pointed in both sexes, the male bird not only having its two central 

 feathers elongated and pointed, but also showing an equally marked lengthening 

 of the lanceolate scapular feathers. The legs are rather short, and the webs are 

 slightly excavated in front. The pintail resembles the mallard in the circumstance 

 that during the summer the male assumes a plumage resembling that of the female. 

 At other times the former sex has the head and upper neck dark brown ; most 

 of the upper-parts grey, forming by undulating lines of greyish and blackish ; 

 the front of the neck, breast, and considerable portion of the under-parts, white ; 

 the wing-speculum dark green; and the long tail-feathers black; the beak and 

 feet being lead -colour or brownish. The female is nearly brown through- 

 out, the feathers of the upper -parts being mottled with two shades, while 

 those on the under surface are nearly uniform ; the tail-feathers showing white 

 markings on a brown ground. The length of the male pintail varies from 24 to 

 28 inches. 



Found throughout the circumpolar regions, the pintail is a migratory species, 

 ranging in winter as far south as Panama and Cuba in the New World, and in the 

 Old World to the Mediterranean, Persia, Ceylon, China, Borneo, and Japan. Its 

 main breeding-area in the Old World lies to the north of latitude 60°, but it 

 descends below this limit in North Germany and Russia, and still more so in 

 Siberia. A silent bird during the day, the pintail utters a low quacking sound at 

 night. It generally frequents shallow waters, where it feeds upon both vegetable 

 and animal food ; and in winter commonly associates in flocks, which in India may 

 include from twenty to two hundred, or occasionally thousands of head, and are 

 at times composed exclusively of male birds. The flight of the pintail is rapid in 

 the extreme ; and this, together with its shy and wary habits, renders it one of the 

 most difiicult ducks to shoot, although the excellence of its flesh renders it of 

 especial value to the sportsman. When once flushed, pintail almost invariably 

 fly clean away, and cannot be driven backwards and forwards from one piece of 

 water to another, like so many other ducks. From the closeness of its breast- 

 plumage, it is especially necessary in the case of the pintail to allow the bird to 

 pass before firing. In the Southern Hemisphere there are several allied ducks, 

 such as the Chilian pintail (D. spinicauda) of lower South America, the South 

 American Bahama duck (D. bahamensis), and the red-billed duck (D. erythro- 

 rhyncha) of South Africa, which are considered by many ornithologists as congeneric 

 with the European species, although by others they are referred to the distinct 

 genus Fcecilonetta. They diff'er from the true pintail in the slight elongation of 

 the middle tail-feathers of the male, and the uniformly dull and much spotted 

 coloration of the two sexes. 



