The Pintail. "3 



the east coast is " Sea- Pheasant." In Ireland " Spear- Wigeon," both names having 

 reference to the long tail-feathers of the male. Another Irish name is " Lady-duck " 

 from its elegant and graceful carriage. The Long-tailed Duck fHarelda glacialisj 

 is known as the Pintail in Shetland, and this has led to considerable confusion 

 when determining the range of the two species. 



In winter the males, females and young of the year together, are found in 

 separate flocks ; but males and females are paired again in the early spring. The 

 male Pintail may be distinguished on the water at a considerable distance. It 

 looks longer than other Ducks, and swims low, the slender snake-like neck has 

 a very conspicuous snow-white streak along its length, ending in the pure white 

 breast. The stem is also well elevated with the two long tail-feathers, from which 

 it gets its name. 



It is rather remarkable, considering the number of these Ducks nesting in 

 Jutland, that the species has only been obtained six times in fifty years in 

 Heligoland, — ^more particularly when we find that in the North Frisian Islands, 

 in October, 1880, 24,000 Teal, Wigeon, and Pintail were taken in decoys, and 

 double that number in the autumn of 1877. 



Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown, when at Ust Zylma, on the Petchora, in 

 the spring of 1875, found many nests of the Pintail placed in the grass, among 

 the shrubs, in dry places, generally at some distance from the water; they were 

 deep and well lined with dead grass and sedge, and when the full clutch was laid, 

 contained plenty of down ; this is brown in colour. The eggs are seven to ten, 

 smaller than those of the Mallard, and pale buflfish-green. 



In West Jutland, in May, 1893, Mr. A. C. Chapman and his brother found many 

 nests of Pintails on the islets, in the lagoons and marshes ; " the Pintails generally 

 had eight or nine eggs, warmly ensconed in down, and in every case they were 

 on the point of hatching. The old Duck, in some cases, when disturbed from 

 her eggs, half flapped and half ran away over the ground, and in one instance 

 so rapid and peculiar was the motion, that I imagined for an instant some quad- 

 ruped was trying to escape from our very feet. The drakes were in attendance, 

 their white striped necks glistening in the sun as they sat on the sands a hundred 

 yards away. Some of the Pintail's nests were placed on the barest ground, while 

 others were concealed in beds of grass and nettles." — " The Ibis," 1894, pp. 



349-50- 



Pintails seldom dive, they prefer to feed in shallows, groping on the bottom 



with their long necks and fore part of the body immersed, the rump elevated. 



They are remarkably active on land and quick in catching insects, every action 



being marked by grace and agility. I have found the stomach filled with seeds 



