The Pintail. ^^i 



on migration, some remaining to nest on the lakes. About Archangel, and generally 

 in northern Europe, it is very abundant in summer. It nests through central 

 Asia, and spreads a considerable distance into the Polar sub-regions ; also in the 

 lowlands of the Caucasus and the Kirghiz Steppes. It is a migrant across 

 Turkestan, but, according to Severtzoff, nests in at least one district. Severtzow 

 found it near all the lakes of the Pamir, not very common, but many were shot 

 from the end of July to end of September. Dr. O. Finsch found it, with immense 

 numbers of other water-fowl, in Central Asia, on the waters of the Ala-kul, on 

 May 9th ; also in the neighbourhood of Obdorsk, in July, with young, in the 

 tundra creeks and on the Ob river. 



Considerable numbers winter in the British Islands, more particularly in 

 Ireland. It is common in winter in Portugal, and in Spain is the most common 

 of all the Ducks in the "marismas" of the lower Guadalquivir. In Corsica 

 common in February and March. Messrs. Blwes and Buckley report it abundant 

 in Bulgaria and Macedonia to the end of April. In Transylvania, Mr. C. G. 

 Danford and Mr. Harvie- Brown record it as not a common species ; it is recognized 

 by the natives as the "Arrow-tailed" Duck. The former ornithologist found it, 

 with immense numbers of other wild- fowl, on the " Giaour- geul " lake, in Asia 

 Minor. Its winter range also covers the whole of North Africa, being very abundant 

 in lower Egypt and the Fayoom, and generally frequenting the larger and more 

 open sheets of water. An example was obtained by Mr. Holland in the Wady 

 Gharandel, in the Sinai peninsula. 



Pintails occur at Gilgit, in north-western India, in winter, but are not common. 

 It is, however, a common Duck in the Kandahar marsh in the same season, 

 migrants also arriving in February to leave again in March. An extremely common 

 species in winter in Persia, northern and central India, Ceylon and Upper Burmah, 

 wintering also abundantly in Japan and China, and specially common in the Lower 

 Yangtse basin. It remains in the Corea in mild seasons, and it has occurred as 

 far to the south-east as Borneo. 



In the Nearctic regions, the Pintail is a common species over the whole of 

 North America, nesting chiefly in the north up to the Arctic ocean. Dr. Walker 

 found it at Godthaab, and Reihhardt both in north and south Greenland. In the 

 winter it retires south to the extreme limits of California, Mexico and Panama, also 

 generally over the Southern States and in the Bermudas. In Great Britain the 

 Pintail is not an uncommon species in the Humber district in severe winters, and 

 is frequently obtained by the wild-fowl shooters in the upper reaches of the river. 

 The Ashby decoy book records two hundred and seventy-eight as taken in thirty- 

 five years — fifty-four of them in the winter of 1834-5, ^.nd seventy-four in 1839-40. 



Vol. IV. U 



