THE PINTAIL. 333 



the most prolific ones, when their production is encouraged, 

 and the thinning of them suspended beyond a certain limit, 

 It would seem that the wild duck is nearly the same eco- 

 nomic bird in the humid places of the cultivated country as 

 the partridge or the pheasant is on the dry ; and in the 

 proportion as the improvement of the country increases, the 

 quantity of their food renders the winter less severe to them, 

 drives off their natural enemies, and thus tends much to in- 

 crease their numbers, it becomes the duty as well as the inte- 

 rest of man to thin them at that season, when they can not 

 only be spared, but are in the best condition, and flock in 

 countless multitudes to those places where they are most 

 easily captured. But, on the other hand, protection in close 

 time is as necessary to preserve the economical value of the 

 birds as it is in accordance with the economy of nature. To 

 trample down the green corn may differ in degree from 

 destroying the eggs of wild ducks in the marshes and pools ; 

 but the two operations are the same in kind, and arise from 

 the same disposition. 



THE PINTAIL (Querquedula acuta). 



This is a very elegant species, more graceful in its form 

 than perhaps any of the others, and the produced feathers on 

 the tail, which are of considerable length, pointed, and of a 

 black colour, glossed with green, give it the apearance of 

 being better balanced on the legs than any other of the 

 ducks. The produced tail feathers, as is the case with the 

 curled feathers in the wild duck, belong to the male bird 

 only. 



The bill is moderately long, black in the middle and bluish 

 on the edges. The head rather elevated and round, but the 

 neck slender. Head and throat rich dark brown ; nape and 

 hinder part of the neck dusky, with a narrow white line 

 extending down the front sides, and meeting, broadening. 



