170 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



Anas acuta Linnaeus 



Pintails were the earliest of the ducks to be seen, arriving on May 

 7. They were first noticed in the morning flying up the Porcupine 

 Kiver in small bands. Most of the early arrivals that morning seemed 

 to be searching for a landing place. They landed readily on the ice 

 or near shallow pools on the ice and sat quietly resting or sleeping. 

 There was apparently no place attractive for feeding and so the early 

 flights only stopped for a rest before continuing on in a generally 

 eastward movement. The next day the largest flock of pintails no- 

 ticed during the early season contained 30 birds, but for the first week 

 most flocks appeared rather casually assembled and often included mal- 

 lards. The number of individual ducks and small detached groups 

 gave the impression that they were looking for a nearby location in 

 which to settle, but the places open were too few and too rapidly chang- 

 ing in the alternate thawing and freezing of the overflow on the river. 

 In these groups of pintails the proportions of adult males, females, 

 and young varied. Often an adult male was the most wary and the 

 first to lead the group on the wing. 



On May 17 the flights appeared to increase in size and orderliness 

 of formation. One well organized flock of 80 contained only pintails 

 and flew directly eastward. After a few days this more intensive 

 migration seemed to subside and there was more association with 

 groups of mallards and widgeons. Pairs were occasionally observed 

 about May 30, but migrating flocks of 20 or 30 pintails continued to be 

 seen after the mallards and most flocks of widgeons had separated. 



The flights of pintails past Old Crow seemed to be numerous and 

 well organized enough to account for more than the summer popula- 

 tion, which is rather scattered along Porcupine Kiver. This suggests 

 that the Porcupine River is an important route for the entry from 

 Alaska of many pintails, some of which pass on to the arctic coast and 

 Mackenzie Delta. The early arrivals (May 10, 1934, at Kittigazuit) 

 reported by Porsild (1943), could be these early pintails passing 

 through Old Crow and bent upon an easterly course. 



The Indians call this duck Ghinchityo and Ndkostikyi. 







Anas carolinensis Gmelin 



1 male 



May 17 



weight 307 g. fat 



1 male 



June 16 



weight 286 g. little fat 



testes 12x29, 12x27 

 mm. 



testes 12x31, 16x29 

 mm. 



The first green-winged teal noticed were a pair seen on May 17. 

 For a week singles and pairs were common and males were soon fol- 

 lowing in flight after calling females and in small ponds teal were 



