T H E PINTAIL DUCK.
ANUS ACUTA, LINN.
PLATE CCXXVII. MALE AND FEMALE.
THE first observation that I made on arriving at Labrador, was that
no species of Ducks, excepting those which were entirely or chiefly oceanic,
seemed to resort to that coast, and I left the country with the same
impression. We saw no Mallards, Teals, Widgeons, or Wood Ducks
there; nor any species of Merganser, excepting the Red-breasted, which is
a marine bird. The Pintail Duck, then, was not seen in the parts of that
country which I visited; nor was it known in Newfoundland, on the
Magdeleine Islands, or in the British province of Nova Scotia, at least
along its Atlantic boundaries. In Kentucky and the whole of the Western
Country, where it is extremely abundant in early autumn, during
winter, and up to a very advanced period in spring, you meet with it
wherever its usual food is found. It follows the waters of the Mississippi
to New Orleans, is seen westward in the prairies of Oppelousas, and extends
to the eastward as far as Massachusetts, beyond which, like the
Mallard, it is very seldom seen. Indeed, this species is at all times rare
on the sea coast of America, and must therefore be considered as an inland
bird.
The Pintail, which, in the United States, is better known by the name
of Sprigtail, arrives on the western waters early in October, sometimes
even about the middle of September, the period of its arrival depending
on the state of the weather, or the appearance of other species, with which
it keeps company. Their plumage is in fine condition when they arrive;
their tail-feathers are then as long as at any other period, and the whole
apparel of the adult birds is as perfect as in the breeding season. (
On the water, few birds exhibit more graceful motions than the Pintail
Duck. Its delicately slender neck, the beautiful form of its body,
and its pointed tail, which it always carries highly raised, distinguish it
from the other species with which it may associate. There seems also a
kind of natural modesty in it which you do not find in other ducks, and
its notes, which are often heard, are soft and pleasant. That these notes
should ever have been compared to those of the Mallard, appears to me
PINTAIL DUCK. 215
very strange;—so strange that I am tempted to believe that they who
say so must have mistaken Mallards for Pintails.
Whilst with us, the Pintail is found in company with the Baldpate
or American Widgeon, the Blue-winged Teal, and the Mallard, more frequently
on ponds than on streams, although it sometimes resorts to the
latter, when their shores are overhung with beech-trees loaded with their
nutritious fruits, of which this species is extremely fond, and in search of
which they even ramble to a short distance into the woods. Were this
duck to feed entirely on beech-nuts, I have no doubt that its f.e ;h would
be excellent. It feeds on tadpoles in spring, and leeches in autumn,
while, during winter, a dead mouse, should it come in its way, is swallowed
with as much avidity as by a Mallard. To these articles of food it adds
insects of all kinds, and, in fact, it is by no means an inexpert fly-catcher.
The Pintails are less shy in the Western Country than most species of
their family, and in this respect they resemble the Blue-winged Teals,
which in fact might be called stupid birds with as much propriety as
many others. They swim rather deeply, keep close together, and raise
the hind part of the body like the Mallards; and on the water, on land,
or on the wing, several may generally be killed at a shot. A friend of
mine killed nineteen with two shots of his double-barrelled gun. They
are scarcely nocturnal, but rest much in the middle of the day, basking in
the sunshine whilst on the water, whenever they can indulge in this luxury.
While on ponds, they feed along the most shallow parts, or by the edges;
and if you take my advice, you will never shoot at them while their heads
are at the bottom, and their feet kicking above water. I have several
times, for diversion, done so, but in no instance did I damage a single
individual. But when they raise their heads, you may commit great
havock among them.
During heavy rains in winter, or after them, the Pintails are fond of
alighting on our broad prairies, corn-fields and meadows; and in almost
every puddle you may then find them busily engaged. They move over
the ground as swiftly as Wood Ducks, still carrying their tail erect, unless
when seizing an insect that is on wing or resting on a blade of grass.
I knew a particular spot in a corn-field, not many miles from Bayou Sara
in Louisiana, where, even after a shower, I was sure to meet with this species,
and where I could always have produced a good number, had I thought
them likely to be prized at the dinner-table. While I was at General HERNANDEZ'S
in Florida, the Pintails were very numerous. They alighted