106 BIRDS OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 



commonest Duck met with during our journey, and nesting 

 abundantly at the mouth of the Sengelen." 



The stomach of the female contained digested grass and 

 sand: the bird itself weighed 1 pound 12 ounces. 



DAFILA SPINICAUDA (Vieillot) 



PatO del cola aguda, Azara, Pdxaros, Paraguay y La Plata, iii, 



p. 421, 1805. 

 Anas spinicauda, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., V, p. 135, 1816. 

 Dafila urophasianus, Gould and Darwin, Voy. "Beagle," Birds, 



p. 135, 1841 ; Abbott, Ibis, p. 160, 1861. 

 Dafila spinicauda, Bumford, Ibis, pp. 41, 192, 1877; Hclater and 



Hudson, Argentine Orn., ii, p. 134, 1889 ; Oustalet, Mis. Sci. Gap Horn, 



Ois., p. 209, 1891 J Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxvii, p. 279, 1895 ; 



Oates, Gat. Birds' Eggs Brit. Mus., ii, p. 173, 1902. 



Habitat. — Southern Brazil and Southern Peru, to Tierra del Fuego ; 

 the Falkland Islands. 



1^, Useless Bay Settlement, 16th Sept.; eggs, Sara Settlement, 19th Oct., 

 1904. 



Iris — black; bill — bright yellow, centre black; legs and feet — grey. 



The Brown Pintail is perhaps the commonest Duck in the 

 island, and is the first migrant of its kind to arrive on the break 

 up of winter. These birds give good sport, and are a welcome 

 addition to the daily fare. They come back overhead again and 

 again, even when shot at, giving sporting shots ; higher and 

 higher they come, until the tallest shot cannot pull them down. 



In the Falkland Islands, Abbott says, this Duck "occurs 

 rather sparingly in the interior on the fresh-water ponds, where 

 it is resident all the year round. It never utters any sound or 

 note, either when rising or flying in the air — a singular exception 

 to the general custom of the Duck-tribe." 



In the Province of Buenos Ayres, Durnford found it : — " The 

 commonest of the larger species of Ducks, and in the winter 



