98 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
young: Above grayish olive, with a dull white stripe along each side of 
back, a white space on wing, and a yellowish white superciliary stripe ; 
below grayish white tinged with sulphur-yellow (this deeper in younger 
individuals); a brown stripe behind each eye, and an indistinct spot of 
same over ears. Eggs 2.21 X 1.47, varying from pale brownish buff to 
pale grayish green. Hab. Northern hemisphere in general; in North 
America, breeding from northern United States northward, and winter- 
ing south to Cuba and Panama........... 143. D. acuta (Linn.). Pintail. 
a’. Lower half of head, with upper fore-neck, plain white ; tail creamy buff, fading 
into white at tip; lower parts buff, marked everywhere with roundish spots 
of black, largest on sides; secondaries very broadly tipped with buff; basal 
half of bill, on sides, pale-colored (rose-red in life); sexes alike. (Subgenus 
Poecilonetta Eyton.") 
D. bahamensis (Linn.). Bahama Pintail.? 
Genus AIX Bors. (Page 85, pl. XXIII, fig. 5.) 
Species. 
Common Cuaractrers.—Adult males with the plumage strikingly variegated 
with boldly contrasted and brilliant colors; head varied with rich metallic green 
and purple and pure white; chest rich purplish chestnut; sides of breast crossed 
by a broad bar of pure white immediately followed by one of velvety black ; sides 
and flanks buffy, delicately waved with black, the tips of the broad outermost 
feathers broadly barred with purest white and most intense black; belly white; 
upper parts varied with velvety black and various metallic hues, the outer webs 
of the primaries hoary, passing into white at tips. Adult females with head plum- 
beous or brownish gray, varied with white; chest brownish, spotted with white; 
upper parts without black, but with much metallic purple. 
a), Feathering at base of upper mandible extending much farther forward below 
than above, the upper basal portion of the mandible forming a very deep 
angle between the feathering of the forehead and that of the lores; depth of 
bill at base much greater than its width; feathers on sides of head and neck 
short and velvety ; innermost tertial of normal form ; tail half as long as the 
wing, graduated, the feathers very broad, and extending far beyond the 
coverts. (Subgenus Aiz.) 
Adult male: Head metallic green, purple, and violet relieved by a pure 
white line extending backward from the angle of the upper mandible 
along each side of the crown and upper border of the crest; another 
from behind the eye backward along the lower edge of the crest, and 
two much broader transverse bars crossing the cheeks and side of neck, 
respectively, and confluent with a white throat-patch ; upper parts chiefly 
velvety black, varied with metallic tints of bronze, purple, blue, and 
1 Poecilonetia Eyton, Monog. Anat. 1838, 116. Type, Anas bahamensis Linn. 
2 Anas bahamensis Linn., 8. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 224. Dajila bahamensis Gray, Gen. B. iii. 1849, 615, 
