ANAS ACUTA. 
(THE PINTAIL.) 
Anas acuta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 202 (1766) ; Naum. Naturgesch. cler Vog. Deutschl. xi. 
p. 638 (1842). 
Dafila acuta (Linn.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 304 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. 
Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 269; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 803 (1864); Holdsw. P. Z. S. 
1872, p. 479 ; Dresser, B. of Eur. pt. 19 (1873) ; Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost-Afr. ii. p. 1311 
(1873) ; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1876, p. 391 ; David & Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 498 
(1877); Hume, Str. Feath. 1879, p. 115 (List Ind. B.). 
Pintailed Buck, Lath. ; Babijunco, Port. ; Pijlstaart, Dutch. Big hans, Bengal. ; Kokarali, 
Sindh (Jerdon); Bullul, Arabic (Heuglin). 
Adult male (England and Siberia). Length 23-0 to 25-0 inches ; wing 10-6 to 11*5 ; tail 6-0 to 6-5, the central 
feathers 2-0 to 2-3 longer than the adjacent pair ; tarsus 1-5 ; middle toe 1-5, nail 0-43 ; hind toe 0-4 ; bill to 
gape (straight) 2-5, at front 2-0— (Ceylon). Two examples : wing 10-2-10-7 inches. The central tail-feathers 
are attenuated, running gradually to a sharp point. 
Iris orange-reddish ; bill black, pale blue about the nostrils ; legs and feet greyish black. 
Male after the autumn moult (Yenesay, 10th June). Head and throat down to the middle of the fore neck earthy 
brown, the centres of the feathers dark brown, overspreading them on the centre of the head and nape, and 
changing on the hind neck into a black patch, passing again into the whitish of the lower hind neck, interscapulars, 
sides of chest, and flanks, all of which parts are very closely cross-pencilled with brownish black ; at the side of 
the nape a white stripe passes down between the black hind neck and the brown of the throat, and spreads over 
the entire under surface to the vent, the belly being finely stippled with brownish ; back greyish white, more 
closely cross-pencilled with black than the interscapulars ; upper tail-coverts whitish with brown centres, the 
larger lateral feathers with the outer webs black ; tail-feathers pale brown with whitish edges, the elongated 
central pair entirely black; scapulars and tertials elongated and lanceolate, the former black, with broad clearly- 
defined white margins, the upper or shorter feathers white, cross-rayed with blackish like the interscapulars ; tertials 
greyish white, with broad clearly-defined black centres, some of the feathers mottled with greyish along the outer 
edges ; wing-coverts greyish slate, with a greenish tinge, the greater series broadly tipped with salmon-colour, 
forming a band across the wing ; secondaries brown, with broad white tips sharply defined on the outer webs 
against a deep black band, changing higher up the feather into coppery bronze, which is deep green in some lights, 
forming a brilliant speculum in the closed wing ; primaries pale brown, the first quill with a whitish shaft, the 
remainder sullied whitish ; under tail-coverts dull black, the lateral feathers with an outer white edge ; axillaries 
whitish, with dark shaft- lines; under wing-coverts brownish grey, stippled with whitish. 
Ihe ground-colour of the tertials is brown in some specimens, and that of the upper tail-coverts brownish grey ; these 
are probably not fully adult. The older the bird, the longer the scapular and central tail-feathers are. 
This plumage is worn through the winter until about the latter half of the following June, when, after the pairing- 
time is over, the male undergoes during the month of July a complete moult, and assumes a plumage something 
like that of the female, with the exception of the wing-coverts, primaries, and secondaries, which are renewed 
as before. The dress in a male (Archangel, July 31) in Mr. Dresser’s collection is as follows 
Summer plumage. Sides of the head, throat, and upper part of neck fulvous grey, the feathers centred with brown, 
except on the throat ; top of the head blackish brown, the feathers edged with tawny, and paling on the back of 
the neck into greyish brown ; lower part of the fore neck and its sides, together with the under surface, sullied 
whitish, each feather with a brown bar near the tip, except on the breast, where the bars are reduced into small 
spots ; flanks boldly barred with brown ; lower hind neck, scapulars, and back dark brown, the feathers crossed 
with narrow bars of white, as also stippled with the same ; upper tail-coverts brown, crossed with crescentic bars 
of white; tertials brownish grey, with broad mesial blackish stripes blending into the ground-colour; tail brown, 
