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FOOD HABITS OF SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. ak 
PINTATIL. 
(Dafila acuta.) 
PLATE VI. 
The pintail breeds abundantly along the northern border of the 
United States from Lake Superior almost to the Pacific, and north- 
ward to the Arctic coast northwest of Hudson Bay and west to 
Alaska. It is uncommon as a breeder east of a line drawn from the 
western side of Hudson Bay to the western shore of Lake Michigan, 
and south of the northern tier of States except on the Great Plains. 
It breeds also south to northern Illinois, southern Colorado, and 
southern California, winters as far south. as Cuba and Panama, and 
abundantly in the southern half of the United States: The species 
breeds also in the northern portions of the Old World and migrates 
south in winter to-northern Africa and southern Asia. 
The pintail is easily recognized by its long neck as well as by the long, 
pointed middle tail feathers from which it derives most of its common 
names. In addition to ‘‘pintail’”’ it is sometimes known locally as 
‘‘sprig,” ‘‘sprig-tail,”’ ‘‘sharp-tail,” and ‘‘spike-tail.’”?’ A cinnamon- 
brown wing bar, present in both sexes, also is distinctive. The adult 
male has a very dark brown head, a white stripe on each side of the 
neck, and the sides and back finely marked with -black and white 
wavy lines. 
FOOD HABITS. 
In its general habits the pintail quite closely resembles the mal- 
lard, although it probably spends less time feeding on dry land remote 
from the water. It is not particularly. adept at diving, but never- 
theless obtains much of its food from under the surface and often 
from the bottom in shallow water, by tipping-up for it. It nests 
in low meadows or sloughs, frequently some distance from water. 
The female is very solicitous in the care of her young, attempting to 
decoy an intruder away from them by playing wounded, or to distract 
his attention by circling around and quacking loudly. In autumn, 
pintails usually gather in good-sized flocks either by themselves or 
with other shallow-water ducks, and are much sought after for their 
flesh, which is very palatable. 
The stomachs of 790 *° pintails, collected from practically all parts 
of North America from Alaska and Hudson Bay to California, Texas, 
and Florida, were available for this investigation. The largest num- 
bers were taken in the States of Louisiana (172), Washington (139), 
Texas (110), Utah (91), Florida (44), and North Carolina (42), the 
remainder being well scattered. Of the total number, data on the 
contents of 769, representing the months from September to March, 
inclusive, were used in computing averages. 
‘10 Two hundred and thirty-seven of these were examined by-W. L. McAtee. 
