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to a nesting colony of about one hundred Ring-billed Gulls and a few Herring Gulls, 
which shows that not all gulls are egg-thieves. 
Damage. Owing to its habit of early migration the Pintail arrives among the 
rice-fields of central California and Arkansas in some numbers before the grain is 
harvested, at least in those seasons when the crop matures late. What damage is 
done by ducks in these areas is probably chargeable chiefly to this species. 
Food Value. Audubon seems to have held a rather low opinion of the Pintail’s 
flesh. Nevertheless it compares fairly well with that of several other species when 
killed in regions well stocked with suitable food. I think it is apt to be thin, and it 
certainly seldom takes on the layer of fat which makes the Widgeon so delicious. 
In the British Isles, and in fact throughout western Europe it is at times quite 
“fishy” in flavor — sometimes simply uneatable. In India it seems to rank high. 
Hume and Marshall (1879) class it next to the Mallard, and say they have never 
come across one with a fishy taste. 
Hunt. In general the same methods used in hunting the Mallard are employed 
in taking the Pintail. A good account of the primitive methods, including poisoning, 
liming and netting, may be found in MacPherson (1897). A curious method of 
taking Pintail and other ducks in eastern Siberia is described by Iladde (1863). It 
consists of baiting eel-hooks with pieces of sheep’s lung, which float on the water and 
are much relished by Pintails when they come to feed at night. In the morning the 
birds can often be drawn in alive. 
Flight-nets made of fine, tough, bamboo fiber seem to be still in use in the Canton 
region of China. In the winter live Pintails sell there as low as 3)/^ pence apiece 
(Vaughan and Jones, 1913), and dead ones for even less. 
Behavior in Captivity. Always a favorite with bird-lovers, the Pintail gets 
along well with other ducks, is hardy, long-lived, and perhaps the easiest to rear in 
captivity excepting only the ^Mallard. This of course does not mean that it nests 
regularly or freely in confinement unless the stock itself is hand-reared. It is un- 
necessary to mention in detail the many public gardens and private grounds where it 
has been successfully bred. In the London Gardens it has nested from an early 
period, the hatching dates falling chiefly between the middle of May and the middle 
of June (P. L. Sclater, 1880). Twenty -one specimens kept there lived on the average 
four years and seven months, the maximum being seventeen years and ten months 
(P. C. Mitchell, 1911). Periods almost as long have been recorded by Schmidt 
(1878). 
Shoal-water ducks often develop the habit of diving in captivity. To this the 
