582 PINTAIL DUCK. 
upper part of the body, tail, and flanks, an ashy slate, tinged with 
brown; primaries, black; middle secondaries, white, forming a large 
speculum on the wing; greater coverts, black, tipped for half an inch 
with white; sides of the breast, from the sorel colored part of the 
neck downwards, very. pale ash, with broad semicircular touches of 
white ; belly and lower part of the breast, a fine yellowish cream 
i 
color—a distinguishing trait also in the male; legs and feet, or- 
ange red. 
PINTAIL DUCK.— ANAS ACUTA. — Fie. 277, 
Le Canard a longue queue, Briss. vi. p. 369, 16, pl. 34, fig. 1 2. — Buff. ix. p. 
199, pl. 13. PL enl 954°—Arct. Zool. No. 500.—Latk, Syn. ii. p- 526.7 
Peale’s Museum, No. 2806. 
DAFILA ACUTA.— Leacu.* 
Dafila caudacuta, Shaw’s Zool.— Steph. Cont. xii. p. 127.— Canard a longue 
queue au pillet, Zemm. Man. d’ Ornith. ii. 838. — Pintail, Mont. — Bew. — Sel- 
bys Must. pl. 42, m.— Anas acuta, Cracker.—Flem. Br. Anim. p. 12%4.— 
‘onap. Synop. p. 383. — Anas (dafila) caudacuta, North. Zool. ii. p. 441. 
Tue Pintail, or, as it is sometimes called, the Sprigtail, is a com- 
mon and well-known Duck in our markets; much esteemed for the 
excellence of its flesh, and is generally in good order. It is a shy and 
cautious bird, feeds in the mud flats, and shallow fresh-water marshes ; 
but rarely resides on the sea-coast. It seldom dives, is very noisy, 
and has a kind of chattering note. When wounded, they will some- 
times dive, and, coming up, conceal themselves under the bow of the 
boat, moving round as itmoves. Are vigilant in giving the alarm on , 
the approach of the gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of the 
Sprigtail. Some Ducks, when aroused, disperse in different direc- 
tions ; but the Sprigtails, when alarmed, cluster confusedly together 
as they mount, and thereby afford the sportsman a fair opportunity of 
raking them with advantage. They generally leave the Delaware 
about the middle of March, on the way to their native regions, the 
north, where they are most numerous. They inhabit the whole 
northern parts of Europe and Asia, and, doubtless, the corresponding 
latitudes of America; are said, likewise, to be found in Italy. Great 
flocks of them are sometimes spread along the isles and shores of 
Scotland and Ireland, and on the interior lakes of both these countries. 
* Jn this beautiful species we have the type of the sub-genus Dajila. In it the 
marginal laminz begin to disappear, and the bill to assume what may be called a 
more regular outline, approaching to that of A. boschas, our wild and domestic 
breed. Another peculiarity is the development of the tail, which becomes much. 
lengthened, whence the name of Sea Pheasant. In this country they are not very 
common, which may arise from their being more difficult to procure, by their fre- 
quenting the sea rather than any inland water ; they are frequently taken, however, 
in decoys, and I once shot two feeding in the evening on a wet stubble field in 
company with the Common Wild Duck. — Ep. : 
