

^>f^-^4i 



PINTAIL. 



gray duck. sprigtail. 



Dafila acuta. 



Char. Male: back and flanks mottled gray; head and neck brown, 

 shading to black on the nape ; wing-coverts buff; wing-patch, or "specu- 

 lum," green, margined with black and white; tail black, the two central 

 feathers much elongated ; under parts white, — a line from the breast ex- 

 tending up the sides of the neck; bill and legs slate gray. Length 26 to 

 30 inches. Female : upper parts mottled gray and brown, and lower 

 parts gray and white; wing as in male, but of duller tints; tail with 

 oblique bars. Length 21 to 23 inches. 



Nest. Usually at considerable distance from the water, but often very 

 near ; always amid a tuft o£ tall grass, in a dry spot, — a deep, bowl-like 

 structure of sedges, and lined with grass and down. 



^SK^- 7~io; pale huffish green ; average size about 2.10 X 1.50. 



This elegant species is an inhabitant of the northern parts of 

 both continents, leaving its remote natal regions as the winter 

 advances, vi^hen it is seen pretty frequently in the markets of 

 the United States, and is a game much esteemed for the ex- 

 cellence of its flavor. According to Richardson, these birds fre- 

 quent chiefly the clear lakes, and breed in the Barren Grounds, 



