BAHAMA DUCK 
345 
Iris bright reddish sienna. Bill plumbeous or bluish, with the nail black, and a large patch at the 
base of the cuhnen red or crimson-red. Legs and feet rather dark lead-color. 
Wing 205-232 mm.; bill 51-53; tarsus 38-41. 
Adult Female: Similar to the male but slightly smaller. 
Wing 198-222 mm.; bill 48-51; tarsus 36-38. 
I.MMATUEE Bird: Resembles adult as soon as first plumage is assumed. 
Young in Dovm: Resembles in a general way the young of the Mallard, but the under parts are 
somewhat paler and lack the sulphur-yellow coloring. The anterior part of the trans-ocular streak 
between the eye and the culmen is less well defined than in the Mallard (specimen in British 
Museum). 
DISTRIBUTION 
Florida 
Bahamas 
Antilles 
The Bahama Pintail has a wide distribution throughout the West Indies and South America. The 
northernmost record is for Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it has once been taken (W. S. Brooks, 
1913). This is the only known occurrence on the mainland of North America, a rather 
remarkable fact in view of its being a common resident throughout the Bahamas. In 
those islands it has been recorded for Great Abaco, Andros, Watling’s, Long Island, North, Great 
and East Caicos, Little and Great Inagua (Todd and Worthington, 1911; Cory, 1880; 
G. M. Allen, 1905; Bonhote, 1903; Riley, 1905; Fuertes, in litt.). It is by no means a 
common bird in Cuba, but has been found on the north coast nearSagua la Grande (Gundlach, 1881). 
In Jamaica it appears only occasionally (P. L. Sclater, 1910) and its occurrence on 
Santo Domingo is not certain, though Cory (1885) thinks he saw it a few' times there. 
Gundlach (1878) saw it near Boqueron, Porto Rico, and Wetmore (1916) found it common and breed- 
ing in the Laguna de Guanica on the same island. Cory (1890b) has recorded it for St. Thomas in 
the Virgin Islands. In the Lesser Antilles it has, so far as I know, been found only on Anguilla 
(J. L. Peters, MS.) and on Barbuda and Antigua (Lawrence, 1878). 
On the mainland of South America the species is not found in Ecuador, Colombia or Venezuela, 
though it is included in Ernst’s (1877) list of the birds of the last country. It is, however, found in 
British Guiana (R. Schomburgk, 1848; C. B. Dawson, 1916; Beebe, Hartley and Howes, The 
1917); it is common on the coasts of Dutch Guiana (F. P. and A. P. Penard, 1908-10) Guianas 
and has been recorded also from French Guiana (von Berlepsch, 1908). 
In Brazil it seems to be found in the coastal regions only, where, however, it is often common 
(H. Burmeister, 1856). Natterer met with it on the lower Amazon and near Cajutuba (Para) as well 
as on the Rio Muria and near Sertao, Bahia (von Pelzeln, 1868-71). Goeldi (1894- 
1900) has recorded it from Marajo and the Prince zu Wied (1832) saw the species 
along the coast. According to H. and R. von Ihering (1907) it is found also in Rio Janeiro and 
Rio Grande do Sul. 
In the west, specimens have been taken at Cochabamba, Bolivia (von Boeck, 1884), and in Peru 
(Philippi, 1868), at Tumbez (Taczanowski, 1886) and commonly on the coast between Lurin 
and Chorillos, especially on the lagoons near Villa (von Tschudi, 1845-46). Lord 
William Percy collected a single specimen on Lake Poopo, western Bolivia, in June, 
1920. 
It occurs also in Paraguay (Bertoni, 1913) and in northern Argentina. H. Burmeister (1861) did 
not see it on the Parana or farther west, but since then it has been recorded from Tucuman (Dinelli, 
fide Dabbene, 1910), from Cordoba (Frenzel, 1891; Schulz, Dabbene, 1910), from 
Entre Rios (A. H. Holland, 1896) and from Mendoza (Reed, 1916). 
Brazil 
Argentina 
