PINTAIL 139 



Banos, Merced County, during the winter of 1911. Like the Mallard, 

 Pintails glean in the grain fields, and in the middle west they feed 

 largely on wild rice. In Alaska, Grinnell (1900, p. 14) records them 

 as feeding exclusively in the fall on the seeds of a kind of grass which 

 bordered the sloughs and ponds; and Baird, Brewer and Ridgway 

 (1884, I, p. 514) state that they feed on the roots of the horsetail 

 rush. 



As a table duck the Pintail ranks with the Mallard and Canvas- 

 back, both as regards size and flavor. Consequently it is widely sought 

 after. A wary bird, flying high and with great speed, this species 

 makes an ideal game bird. It is a favorite not only with the hunter 

 who shoots over decoys but with the pass shooter as well. In southern 

 California it is often considered the "best" bird, for very soon after 

 the opening of the season it is in prime condition. This is due to 

 the fact that immediately upon their arrival from the north the birds 

 resort at night to the stubble fields and soon become grain-fattened. 

 A grain and seed eater by choice, the Sprig is uniformly fat and 

 delicious. Certain sportsmen advocate allowing drawn birds to hang 

 for several days before cooking. The concensus of opinion among 

 epicures is that young drakes are superior to young ducks. The 

 former can be selected from the bag by the mottled color of their 

 plumage and because the pin-feathers are just bursting out into the 

 ragged patches of their winter color (Hedderly, 1912a, p. 490). Beld- 

 ing (MS) alone, considers it an inferior table duck. He says that its 

 flesh often has an earthy taste acquired by feeding in muddy ponds. 

 This may be true locally. 



The numbers of Pintails sold in the market (over 40,000 in San 

 Francisco alone in 1910-1911) suggests that this is one of the species 

 which cannot long exist in numbers if something is not done at once 

 to conserve the breeding stock. Sportsmen have noted a distinct 

 decrease in its numbers during the past ten years. In spite of the 

 fact that most of the Pintails killed breed outside of the state, yet 

 the fact that there is a constant diminution of its numbers from year 

 to year shows that the breeding stock of the north is being seriously 

 depleted. "We believe that the report of relatively large numbers of 

 Pintails from some localities in late years is due to the disproportion- 

 ately greater rate of reduction of one or two other species more popu- 

 lar with the sportsman. Our three best table ducks, the Mallard, 

 Canvasbaek and Pintail, are all regularly diminishing in numbers and 

 their survival as game birds can only be assured by a more rigid pro- 

 tection than they now receive, to the end that the annual toll taken in 

 hunting and the normal rate of reproduction may strike a somewhat 

 closer balance. 



