Plate CCXXVII. Male and Female.
Tail tapering, of fourteen tapering feathers, of which the two middle
project far beyond the rest. Male with the bill black, the sides of
upper mandible pale blue; feet greyish-blue; head, throat, and upper
part of neck anteriorly greenish-brown, faintly margined behind with
purplish-red; a small part of hind neck dark green; the rest and the
upper part in general beautifully undulated with very narrow bars of
brownish-black and yellowish-white, smaller wing-coverts, alula, and
primary quills grey, the latter dark brown toward the end; speculum
coppery-red, changing to dull green, edged anteriorly with light
brownish-red, posteriorly with white; inner secondaries and scapulars
black and green with broad grey margins; upper tail-coverts
cream-coloured, the outer webs blackish and green; tail light grey,
the middle feathers dark brown glossed with green; on each side of the
neck an oblique band of white, of which colour are the lower parts in
general, but the sides undulated like the back, the lateral feathers
of the rump cream-coloured, the lower tail-coverts black, and those at
the sides edged with white. Female with the upper parts variegated
with brownish-black and light yellowish-brown, the margins of the
feathers, and a mark on each side of the shaft being of the latter
colour; the speculum dusky green, margined behind with white; primary
quills greyish-brown; lower parts light brownish-yellow, sides
variegated with brown.
_Male_, 29, 36. _Female_, 22-1/2, 34.
From Texas, throughout the interior, to the Columbia River, and along
the Atlantic coast to Maine, during winter, and early spring. Breeds
in the Arctic regions. Abundant.
Pintail Duck, Anas acuta, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. viii. p. 72.
Anas acuta, Bonap. Syn. p. 383.
Anas caudacuta, Pintail Duck, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v.
ii. p. 441.
Pintail or Winter Duck, Anas acuta, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 386.
Pintail Duck, Anas acuta, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 214; v.
v. p. 615.