PINTAIL DUCK. 215 



very strange ; — so strange that I am tempted to believe that they who 

 say so must have mistaken Mallards for Pintails. 



Whilst with us, the Pintail is found in company with the Baldpate 

 or American Widgeon, the Blue-winged Teal, and the Mallard, more fre- 

 quently on ponds than on streams, although it sometimes resorts to the 

 latter, when their shores are overhung with beech-trees loaded with their 

 nutritious fruits, of which this species is extremely fond, and in search of 

 which they even ramble to a short distance into the woods. Were this 

 duck to feed entirely on beech-nuts, I have no doubt that its fiejh would 

 be excellent. It feeds on tadpoles in spring, and leeches in autumn, 

 while, during winter, a dead mouse, should it come in its way, is swallowed 

 with as much avidity as by a Mallard. To these articles of food it adds 

 insects of all kinds, and, in fact, it is by no means an inexpert fly-catcher. 



The Pintails are less shy in the Western Country than most species of 

 their family, and in this respect they resemble the Blue-winged Teals, 

 which in fact might be called stupid birds with as much propriety as 

 many others. They swim rather deeply, keep close together, and raise 

 the hind part of the body like the Mallards ; and on the water, on land, 

 or on the wing, several may generally be killed at a shot. A friend of 

 mine killed nineteen with two shots of his double-barrelled gun. They 

 are scarcely nocturnal, but rest much in the middle of the day, basking in 

 the sunshine whilst on the water, whenever they can indulge in this luxury. 

 While on ponds, they feed along the most shallow parts, or by the edges ; 

 and if you take my advice, you will never shoot at them while their heads 

 are at the bottom, and their feet kicking above water. I have several 

 times, for diversion, done so, but in no instance did I damage a single 

 individual. But when they raise their heads, you may commit great 

 havock among them. 



During heavy rains in winter, or after them, the Pintails are fond of 

 alighting on our broad prairies, corn-fields and meadows ; and in almost 

 every puddle you may then find them busily engaged. They move over 

 the ground as swiftly as Wood Ducks, still carrying their tail erect, un- 

 less when seizing an insect that is on wing or resting on a blade of grass. 

 I knew a particular spot in a corn-field, not many miles from Bayou Sara 

 in Louisiana, where, even after a shower, I was sure to meet with this species, 

 and where I could always have produced a good number, had I thought 

 them likely to be prized at the dinner-table. While I was at General Her- 

 NANUEz's in Florida, the Pintails were very numerous. They alighted 



