PINTAIL. 87 
Bahamas. TheCarolinasare the only place on t he Atlantic coasl where 
the species is common. Ii i^ not rare in Maryland, and there are a few 
winter records for New Jersey. The greater portion of the species 
winters in the southern Mississippi Valley, north rarely to southern 
Illinois accidental January 11. L892, al Lanesboro, Minn, and south 
through Mexico to central Guatemala; indeed many hundreds of 
thousands are said to winter near Lake ( 'hapala, Jalisco, Al this sea- 
son it is found in New Mexico. Arizona, all of ( ali fornia. and less com- 
monly north on the Pacific coast tosouthern British Columbia. Num- 
bers winter in the 1 lawaiian Islands. During flight between the winter 
and summer home it passes through the northeastern United States, 
not rarely through Pennsylvania and New York, and formerly it was 
not rare in Massachusetts; but for the last lilt ecu years there has heen 
hardly more than a single record a year for the whole of New England. 
Spring migration* — Records of the movements of this specie-, are 
not numerous enough to permit exact statements. Migration begins 
late in February, but is slight before the middle of March, at which 
time the species begins to appear north of its winter range. Average 
dates of arrival are: Central Illinois, March 23; central Iowa, March 
23 (average of sixteen years); Heron Lake. Minn.. March 26; central 
Nebraska, March 25; central Colorado, March 12; vicinity of Chicago, 
111., April 16; southeastern Minnesota, April 9; central North Dakota, 
April 13; southern Manitoba (twelve years), April 21; Terry, Mont., 
April 13. The first were seen near Edmonton, Alberta, Ma} T 1, 1901; 
Fort Chipewyan, Mackenzie, May 7, 1893; Fort Resolution, Macken- 
zie, May 18, 1860, and at the mouth of the Yukon River the second 
week in May. The general time of breeding can be learned from the 
following dates: Hay wards, Cal., eggs April 25, 1901; East Bernard, 
Tex., downy young May 14, 1905; Fort Snelling, Minn., eggs May 23; 
North Dakota, incubated eggs June 7; Oak Lake, Manitoba, eggs 
May 24, 1892. 
Fall migration. — An individual seen at Erie, Pa., September 6, 1893, 
marks about the beginning of fall migration, and soon after this, by 
the middle of the month, the earliest migrants have reached the mouth 
of the Mississippi River. The larger portion has departed from the 
northern United States by the middle of October, and the region just 
north of the winter range is deserted early in November. South of 
the United States, at the southern end of Lower California, the first 
arrivals have been recorded October IS; (J nay mas, Mexico. Novem- 
ber; Panama, October 16; Cuba. September; Jamaica. November; 
Trinidad, December. 
Dafila acuta (Linn.). Pintail. 
Breeding range. — This is a common breeding duck throughout a 
wide stretch of country from North Dakota to the Arctic Ocean and 
HI 
