THE PINTAIL DUCK 



(^Dafila acuta. ) 



The Pintails are elegant birds and 

 very graceful, not only in the appearance 

 of their bodies, but also in the stateli- 

 ness of their motions. We cannot but 

 agree with Neltje Blanchan, when she 

 says : "Their necks, which are unus- 

 ually long and slender for a duck; their 

 well poised heads and trim, long bodies, 

 unlike the squat figure of some of their 

 kindred; their sharp wings and pointed 

 tails, give them both dignity and grace 

 in the air, on the land, or in the water, 

 for they appear equally at home in the 

 three elements." The range of the Pin- 

 tails is very extensive and they are ad- 

 mired wherever they are seen. It is too 

 bad that these birds have been extermi- 

 nated from large tracts of country where 

 they were hunted by sportsmen without 

 mercy. They are known to frequent 

 North America, breeding from the 

 northern central portion of the United 

 States (for they are not known to nest 

 on the Atlantic coast) northward to the 

 Arctic Ocean. They winter from the 

 central portion of the United States, 

 southward to Panama and the West In- 

 dies. These Ducks are also called Sprig- 

 tails, Gray Ducks, and Winter Ducks. 



The range of the Pintails is circum- 

 polar and in the Old World they are 

 known to winter as far south as the Med- 

 iterranean Sea, Ceylon, China, Borneo, 

 and Japan. They nest in dry, grassy 

 places, usually near the water. The 

 nests are sometimes placed in a depres- 

 sion upon a tussock. Usually, however, 

 wherever built, the nest is quite well con- 

 cealed. Frequently the depression, in 

 which the eggs are laid, is excavated by 

 the female who performs all the work re- 

 quired by family cares. The nests are 

 lined with grass and feathers from her 

 breast. In common with many other spe- 

 cies of water-fowls the Pintail, when 

 leaving her eggs unprotected from the 

 warmth of her body, covers them well 



with feathers and grass. The eggs vary 

 from six to twelve in a set. They are 

 quite small and usually pale olive-green 

 in color while perfectly fresh. Mr. E. 

 W. Nelson says regarding the Pintail in 

 Alaska: "This is about the first of the 

 water-fowl to commence nesting. The 

 date when the first eggs are laid varies 

 from May i8 to 25, according to the 

 season. As a consequence the young are 

 hatched early in June and are on the 

 wing early in August, before any of the 

 other species. When the young are 

 hatched the parents lead them to the ad- 

 jacent pool, and they keep in the most 

 secluded parts of the marsh until able to 

 take wing. In the fall, the Pintails feed 

 upon the various berries growing on the 

 hill-sides until they become extremely 

 fat, and a young bird at this season is 

 the most delicious of the water-fowl 

 found in the north." In the southern 

 United States where the Pintails winter, 

 their delicate flesh is deeply appreciated 

 by the hunter, and some other ducks, 

 whose flesh is even more delicate, do not 

 attract more than a small fraction of the 

 hunter's attention. 



The Pintails frequent, as a rule, shal- 

 low waters for the purpose of feeding up- 

 on both animal and vegetable food, and 

 in winter, they are usually found in 

 flocks, varying in number according to 

 locality, from fifteen or twenty to two 

 hundred or more birds. Flocks have 

 been observed in which the number of 

 birds was estimated to be over one thou- 

 sand. Sometimes large flocks consist of 

 the males only, and as Neltje Blanchan 

 has said: 'Tt is an amusing sight to see 

 a flock of drakes feeding in autumn, 

 when they chiefly live apart by them- 

 selves. Tipping the fore part of their 

 bodies downward while, with their long 

 necks distended, they probe the muddy 

 bottoms of the lake for the vegetable 

 matter and low animal forms they feed 



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