90 
ANATIDiE. 
and “the season of courtship” was indicated, as described by 
Montagu, in the supplement to his f Ornithological Dictionary ;* 
but no eggs were produced. Their ordinary call-note is a 
peculiar brief whistle, somewhat resembling that of the teal. 
The shooters state that the cry of the pintail, when wounded and 
pursued, is like that of the mallard, or duck, though more 
weak, and that they quack much at such times. 
The pintail seems to be about equally common in Ireland as in 
England, and more so in both countries than in Scotland. In “ the 
western islands and northern coasts” of the last-named country 
the long-tailed duck is believed by Mr. Selby to have been 
mistaken for it by those who have recorded the frequency of 
the species. Mr. Macgillivray remarks, that this bird is not met 
with in the northern islands ;* but in the most recent work upon 
them it has been noticed as a winter visitant to Orkney ; t — in 
Sutherlandshire, likewise, it is said to be so, and is enumerated 
among the wild-fowl frequenting the lochs of Spynie, &c., Moray- 
shire, in March. J 
Wilson (vol. iii. p. 95) and Audubon (vol. iii. p. 214) both 
speak of the pintail as seldom frequenting the sea-coast of Ame- 
rica, and consider it rather an inhabitant of fresh-water : the 
latter author gives a full and interesting account of its habits. § 
A friend, writing from Belvoir Cottage, West Hoboken (New 
Jersey), in March 1850, inquires, “ Why is the pintail omitted, 
as a species of this continent, in the Prince of Canino*s f Com- 
parative Catalogue of the Birds of Europe and North America* § ?** 
He adds, “It is quite common here, and always to be seen, 
during the season, in New York market.** In Wilson*s f Ame- 
rican Ornithology,* it is stated to be common, which leads to the 
inference that the omission alluded to was accidental. 
* ‘ Manual Brit. Birds/ vol. ii. p. 170 (1846). 
f ‘ Hist. Nat. Oread./ p. 76 (1848). 
t St. John’s ‘ Tour in Sutherlandshire/ vol. i. pp. 139 and 195. 
§ Wilson erroneously remarks, that “ 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.” 
