NATATORÉS. ANATIDÆ.
T H E P IN T A IL DECK.
' AiUi . ' 'âcëm,
Querquedula*,, ,
Anas. ,,
Dafila QattdaeutaÆ
Anas ' acuta,
Pintait back,’ ' TPEttN.-Fril*. ZM . v o lfritp iS é ^ .
-i '^ ^ 'M ôntæ.gu, ïTrnrthv r
t lt Hi v\ h I, lii ii. J iinl'. \ 1. il. ['. »iJ.
The Cracker^ Flem. Brit. An.RgagZj^
Common P mbit* I Selbÿ', Btiti 0mithkvalViddp>531 1.
{Thg_ ,, ’ J ektns, Brit. Ve?i-
Pintail Vrfek, öriuxloy Bi%;.of Emope, p i v,,-~
C a n a r d f i l e t ‘s * T imm. Man. d’OinirliiV&lfji:p..'83'é:
T h i s handsome -duck. is: a .winter * visiter to this, country,
and is one-of- the. first-among those species.which,, are taken
whendhe .decoys ^eg.in tolbe worked in ^October; • It remains
here through'-hhe winter tilhjipriug, and is obtained by wildr
fowl- shooters onFthe coast, as well^as by .fen-men. on the
rivers- and. lakesh'of the, inferior;; - its flight is rapid. Tt.is
* Querquedula, Selby, 1833'cj t BafilasLeach and Stephens;- i-824.
observed to feed by- preference in shallow water, and it
selects plants, insects and their larvae, and mollusca.- Sir
William Jardine mentions having once shot two, while they
were feeding in -the|;evening on a wet stubble field, im company
with, the common wild-duck. This species is one'of
th ^ b e s t of, our various ducks for the table -t, the flesh is
excellent, and in .greak esteem'; . The Pintails,; however, do
not -, breed readily in confinement; neither the Zoological
Society 1 h e r' thé. Ornithological- Society have succeeded in
this- point with thëiPintail Duck, though, both parties retain
several pairs öukthe-canal, .ponds",- and islands, apparently well
adaptedsto-i their habits, and where the males-constantly undergo
that,remarkable summer change, in their plumage which
tenders them for a time more dike their females im appearance
than tany^Bhér^ species: in . Which this- change f t observed»
Tfiafs!-altferat-ion commences-Jn July, partly effected by some
heW.feathers;’ and partly by a change in th e colour of many
o f .the‘*oM .feathefsji; At first; one’ or more-brown spots appear
in tb|fcy$Mte?’ surface on the front of .the neck; these spots
increase tin number rapidly, tilkbhe whole head, neck, breast,
andijunder surface have-;. Become brown-^sthte scapulars, wing-
^©Jpbt-s-} and iertaalSjS undergo, by degrees, the same change
from jfgfey- to i-brown. I haye seen a single white spot remaining,
on th^jBre^st as late .as the 4th of August; but
generally by that time-the malés 'can only be distinguished
from females of .the same; spefciesiby their larger size, and
-their beak Remaining,ofva .pale-'’hkiA"colour. In the female
Hhfetbill is i-dark brown. I have seven a male Pintail^ confined
in the hutch @^a_ dealer throughout the summer, that did not
exhibit any change at all. The following is Montagu’s description
of a male Pintail, after he had thrown off the masculine
plumage, taken on the 19 th of August:— “ Bill as
usual; tdp<of: the; head, and :from thence down the back of
.|the!ne’ck,’dusky.and-pale ferruginous, intermixed in minute