524. BIRDS—ANATID A. 
much less common in the interior than along the Atlantic coast. Some- 
times they appear in considerable numbers on the lake and reservoirs. 
On the streams they are more seldom seen, and so far as my observation 
extends, never in large flocks. 
The eggs of the Dusky Duck are not distinguishable from those of the 
Mallard. 
GENUS DAFILA. Leach. 
Neck very long. Bill longer than the foot, narrow. Tail in adult male much pointed, 
three-fourths or more the wing. 
Darina AcuTA (L.) Bonap. 
Pintail: Springtail. 
Anas acuta, KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 166, 186. 
Dajila acuta, WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 370; Reprint, 1861, 12; Food of Birds, 
etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 574; Reprint, 1875, 14.—LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 
1877, 17; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 185; Reprint, 19. 
Anas acuta, LINNEUS, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 202. 
Dafila acuta, BONAPARTE, List, 1838, 56. 
Tail cuneate, when fully developed the central feathers projecting and nearly equal- 
ling the wing; much shorter and not so narrow in the female and young, four to nine 
inches long; wing, 11; total length, about 24. Bill black and blue, feet grayish-blue, 
head and upper neck dark-brown, with green and purple gloss, sides of neck with a 
long white stripe, lower neck and under parts white, dorsal line of neck black, passing 
into the gray of the back, which, like the sides, is vermiculated with black; speculum 
greenish-purple, anteriorly bordered by buff tips of the greater coverts, elsewhere by 
black and white; tertials and scapulars black and silvery ; female and young with the 
whole head and neck speckled or finely streaked with dark-brown and grayish or yellow- 
ish-brown; below dusky-freckled; above blackish, all the feathers pale-edged; only a 
trace of the speculum between the white or whitish tips of the greater coverts and 
secondaries. 
Habitat, North America and Europe. Breeds chiefly in high latitudes. In wintersouth 
to Panama. Cuba. 
Abundant spring and fall migrant. Sometimes remains through the 
winter, and is one of the earliest to return in spring. The Pintail is one 
of the shyest of our ducks. It isseldom seen in ponds, being partial to 
running streams. 
The eggs are dull grayish-olive in color, and measure 2.25 by 1.50. 
GENUS CHAULELASMUS. Gray. 
Bill as long as the head, shorter than foot; longer than tarsus. Tail about two-fifths 
the wing. 
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