DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS OF NOllTH AMERICA. 



51 



Genus DAFILA Stephens. 

 DAFILA ACUTA {Linn.). 



Pintail. Sprigtail. 



tlic lunlc, liiit liroiiil and 

 ami pale lii'cnvii; lireast. 



Adult male: Bill, lead color, the base and a stripe along the culmen, black ; head and 

 neck, rich brown, sometimes showing a taint gloss of green on the leathers; sides of the 

 neek showing a stripe of wliite, and a stripe of lilaek extemling do^ii tlie back of tlie neck; 

 under parts, white, sliowing faint. «'avy, fine lines of dnskj' on tlie sides ; erissum, Idaek, edged 

 with white; central tail feathers, very much elongated in the male; feet, lead color. 



Length, 28; wing, 9.50; tail, 7; liill, 2. 



Adult female: Tail feathers, not so mueli elongated as iu 

 pointed ; crown and sides of the head, streaked with dusky 

 spotted with dark hrown or black; under parts, white; 

 abdomen and sides showing faint lines of dusky: 

 under wdng coverts, fuscous, edged with white ; axillary 

 plumes, white, barred with dark brown ; specvdum, 

 graj'ish brown edged w ith white. Tlie immature male 

 shows considerable variation in plumage, tlie under 

 parts being usually more streaked or spotted than the 

 adult female, which it otherwise somewhat resembles. 



Length, 2-2; wing, 9.25; tail. :i.5(l: liill. 2. 





A 



Dalihi ai-ubi (IViiKik'). 



(Male.) 



This fine duck ranges throughout the Northern Hemisphere, breeding in 

 the interior from Illinois northward ; it apparently does not breed on the 

 Atlantic coast, but is common in winter from Virginia and the Carolinas south- 

 ward to the West Indies and Central America, being very abundant in Florida 

 in winter in some localities. 



The eggs are usually from seven to twelve, and are bluish wdiite in color. 

 The female Pintail may always be recognized by the pointed middle tail 

 feathers and the barred axillary plumes. 



The male wdiistles and the female "qiuicks."' 



