310 
SWIMMERS. 
appearing in the more southern and wooded districts when 
about to migrate, at which period they proceed even beyond 
the limits of the United States, being noticed by Hernandez in 
Mexico. In Europe they are said to retire to the marshes of 
the White Sea to breed. In Missouri and some of the other 
W estern States they are abundant early in March, and frequent 
the small pools and ponds in the prairies ; at the same time 
they are likewise seen on their way north on the shores of the 
Delaware. 
The Pintail is shy and cautious, feeding on the mud-flats 
and shallow freshwater marshes, but rarely taking to the sea- 
coast. It seldom dives, is very noisy and chattering, uttering 
a quack like the Common Duck, and plunges and hides with 
great dexterity when wounded. It is also troublesomely vigi- 
lant in giving alarm on the approach of the gunner. 
The food and nest of this species are very similar to those 
of the preceding. I have found the stomach in one instance 
nearly filled with the seeds of the Zostcra. A female Pintail 
bred in confinement, when paired with a Widgeon in Lord 
Stanley’s menagerie in Knowsley, sat so closely upon her eggs 
towards the close of the period of incubation as to allow 
herself to be taken off the nest by hand without forsaking her 
hatching, and a brood of these hybrids was successfully 
reared. 
The Pintail is abundant in the interior, breeding along the 
northern border of the United States and in Manitoba, and thence 
to the Arctic Circle. It is rather rare on the Atlantic coast, where 
it appears in autumn and winter chiefly. 
