ANATIDiE— THE SWANS, GEESE, AND DUCKS. 147 



spotted) coloration, and in tho very sliu^lit elono-ation of tho 

 middle reotrices. They constitute a pcroup somewhat interme- 

 diate between Dafila and Nettton, and are ap:ain directly con- 

 nected with the latter by several small ducks of the southern 

 hemisphere, usually referred to the <?enus Querqiiedida (e. g. 

 fiavirostris, of South America, and eatoni^ of Kerguelen 

 Island). The genus PcBcUonetta (type, Anas hahamensi.<i Linn.) 

 was proposed for this group by Kaup, and should probably be 

 i"etained for it. 



Dafila acuta (Linn.) 



PINTAIL. 



Popular synomjms. Sprig-tail; Spike-tail; Pilce-tail; Picket-tail; Pheasant Duck; Sea 

 Pheasant. Water Pheasant; Smee, Smees, or Smethe (New Jersey); Long-neck; 

 Pato golondrino (Mexico).* 

 Anas acuta Linn. S. N. ed. 10, i, 1758,126; ed. 12, i, 17fit;.202.— Wils. Am. Orn. viii, 1814. 

 pi. 68. fig. 3.— NuTT. Man. ii. 1834,386.— Aud. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835,214; v, 1839,615, pi. 

 227; Synop. 1839,279; Birds Am. vi, 1813,266. pi. 390. 

 Dafila acuta Bonap. Comp. List, 1838, 56— Baibd, B. N. Am. 1858, 776; Cat. N. Am. B. 

 1859, No. 578.— CoUES, Key, 1872. 286; Check List, 1873, No. 490; ed. 1882, No. 710; 

 Birds N. W. 1874, 561.— Hensh. Zool. Wheeler's Exp. 1875, ITS.— Ridgw. Orn. 40th 

 Par. 1877, 622; Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 605; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 9«.— B. B. & R. 

 Water B. N. Am. i. 1884, 511.— A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 143. 

 "Anas aland ica Spakrm. Mus. Carls, iii, pi. 60." 

 Anas sparrmanni Lath. Ind. Orn. ii, 1790, 876. 

 Anas caudacuta Pall. Zoog. Rosso- As. ii, 1826, 280. 

 Anas lonoicauda Bmss. Orn. vi, 1760, 366, pi. 34, fig. 1, 2. 

 Anas cattdata Bbehm, Vog. Deutschl. 869. 

 Dafila acuta, var. americana Bonap. Compt. Rend, xliii, 1856. 

 Hab. Nearly the entire northern hemisphere, breeding chiefly far northward; in 

 North Ameri a migrating south in winter as far as Panama and Cuba. 



Sp. Chab. Adult male in fall, icrinter, and spring: Head and upper half of the neck 

 hair-brown or grayish umber, the upper surface darker, often inclining to deep sepia-brown ; 

 all the ftjathers (usually) appreciably darker centrally, producing an indistinctly and 

 minutely speckled appearance; on each side of the occiput the brown has a metallic gloss 

 of dull gi-een, showing a faint purple reflection in some lights. Nape opaque intense 

 black, separated from the brown of the upper neck by an upward extension of tho white of 

 the lower neck nearly to the occiput. Stripe on each side of the nape (as described above), 

 lowerhalf of theneckfrontally and laterally, breast, and abdomen immaculate white. Lower 

 hind neck, with entire doi-sal region and lateral lower parts, finely waved -mth trans- 

 verse, rather zigzag, lines of white and black of nearly equal width. Longer scapulars 

 opaque velvety black centrally, edged broadly with grayish white; outer scapulars witii 

 exposed ends of their outer webs entirely velvety black. Tortials silvery gray, with 

 a median stripe of intense velvety black. Speculum dull green, varying to dull bronzy 

 purple, with a subtorminial bar of velvety black and a tip of white. Wing-coverts uni- 

 form brownish gray, the last row broadly tipped with cinnamon-rufous. Primaries dull 

 6laty. Upper tail-coverts with outer webs black, the inner webs grayish white; lower 

 tail-coverts d. ep opaque velvety black, the exterior row with their outer wobs wi.ite; post- 

 femoral space delicate oream-oolor. Tail-feathers dork ashy edged with white, the elon - 



* For many of the local names of game and water birds I am indebted to Mr. Gurdon 

 Trumbull's A'amps and PortraUs of Birds, (Harper Brothers, New York,) a most u cful 

 work, which should be in the hands of every sportsman. 



