The Pintail Duck ( Dafda acuta) in Winter near Portland, Maine. — 
The Pintail, as it occurs in Maine, is one of the less common, and less hardy 
migrants, of more frequent occurrence in fall than in spring. Although 
Mr. George A. Boardman, cited it as “ rare in winter ” 1 he gave a differ- 
ent statement for the History of North American Birds, 2 and we must 
regard his first statement as unverified, according to existing literature. 
The next definite consideration, perhaps was that of E. A. Samuels, who 
gave its New England status, as “ September 10 to the last week in Octo- 
ber.” 3 
Finally 4 Mr. N. C. Brown showed that it had been known to remain 
in the vicinity of Portland, Maine, on one occasion until November 7. 5 
In 1893, Capt. Herbert L. Spinney entered in his private journal, on 
November 25 the capture of one at Small Point, Maine, and in 1895, Mr. 
Walter H. Rich secured a pair, male and female, which had been shot 
February 10, at Cow Island, Casco Bay. One was taken November 20, 
1901, at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, but was not preserved. A female was shot 
at Scarborough, December 9, 1911, the skull of which is preserved. 
On February 15, 1912, in company with Messrs. I. W. and E. B. Pillsbury 
— both men of long experience and familiarity with our shore and water 
birds — I saw a Pintail drake among many Black Ducks near Martain’s 
Point Bridge between Portland and Falmouth. This was at noon of a 
bright day, and with glasses, the markings, its dark head, and crissum, at- 
tenuated tail and slender outlines, its manner of feeding, rendered both its 
species and its sex unmistakable. On the day previous Mr. E. B. Pillsbury 
and game warden George Cushman had seen it at the same place, when it 
was observed to fly for several hundred yards, with characteristic speed 
and strength. That it was not a new comer is indicated by the fact that 
Mr. John Whitney, a man with a gunner’s keen knowledge of the Anatinae, 
had reported some weeks earlier, a Pintail wintering in the vicinity. That 
the bird was strong of wing, after, evidently, surviving the low temperature, 
of the previous week, which ranged each night below zero Fahrenheit, 
indicates that it had remained through choice, rather than necessity, 
and with the foregoing notes, shows that the Pintail occasionally spends 
at least a considerable part of the winter as far northeast as Portland, 
Maine.— : Arthur H. Norton. Portland _ Me. J *. <*.** 
1 1862. Proc. Bost. Soc. N . H., IX: p. 129. 
2 1884. Water Birds 11: 614. 
j 1870. Birds of New Eng. and Adjacent States, p. 492. 
*In his Feathered Game of the Northeast, 1907, p. 314, Mr. W. H. Rich with- 
ut specifying time, or place, mentions a pair, “shot in some of the severest 
rinter weather.” These birds, now in his possession, were taken in this vicinity, 
nd he has most kindly given me the data credited to him, in this article. 
‘ Proc. Portland Soc. N 
/Oil IIIO me uautl tiCUllCU w mm, m i/mo tw. wviv. 
■MJiuux. 
