320 
ANAS ACUTA 
extremely foolishly, and will come to decoys as easily as any other duck. But a 
flock that contains many old drakes is almost certain to edge away and finally tower 
up long before it comes within range of the concealed shooter and his wooden imi- 
tations. It takes hard weather, dull skies, and a heavy breeze to split up the larger 
flocks and get them “ gentle ” so that they will come easily to decoys. 
Its ability to keep out of the pipe-decoys in England is well shown by the available 
records of those, at one time, important institutions. But when given protection it 
soon becomes tame and familiar as any one can bear witness who has viewed them 
by the thousands walking about on the lawns in the city park of Oakland, California. 
Daily Movements. Pintails do not differ from Mallard or Teal in respect 
to their periods of activity. They begin to flight very early in the morning and, 
where they are at all disturbed, they retire to the open sea or to large expanses of 
fresh water, where they spend the day dozing or preening their feathers. Unedu- 
cated birds and those on migration are of course much less regular in their move- 
ments. Only on some of their winter haunts do they become strictly nocturnal. 
Gait, Swimming, Diving. Many writers have gone out of their way to expatiate 
on the grace and beauty of the Pintail, but to my own mind the long neck which gives 
it a somewhat goose-like appearance, and the pointed tail, do not add particularly to 
its good looks. Its general appearance is certainly different, but in no way more 
elegant than that of the Mallard, Widgeon or Teal. 
Pintails never perch, so far as I know, neither do they dive, excepting rarely in 
captivity. Their long necks enable them to feed comfortably even in fairly deep 
water by tipping up in the usual Mallard-like fashion. They are very nimble runners 
on land. 
Flight. The Pintail’s flight is certainly very rapid, but perhaps not more so than 
that of many of its relatives. It rises from the water almost perpendicularly, and the 
wings make only a slight hissing or rushing sound. While on the wing the neck is 
carried somewhat lower than in the Widgeon, and a suspicious bird can be seen twist- 
ing his head curiously from side to side while he peers down at the crouching sports- 
man. 
Flocks vary greatly in numbers, running all the way from small family parties of 
from six to ten up to enormous aggregations of many hundred. But it is essentially 
a gregarious bird and large flocks are more common than in the case of the Mallard. 
Mr. H. Gardner, in a letter to me, speaks of having seen a flock of at least two thou- 
sand migrating through Colorado and flying in six sections. According to Payne- 
Gallwey (1882) they preserve no particular formation while on flight and of course 
this is true on short journeys where they are resident, but on migration the flock 
