The Pintail Duck...An Attractive Waterfowl

The pintail duck is to me a most interesting bird, always seeming to be uneasy to get away for the far north in the Spring. There are few more beautiful ducks than the pintail. Its long and pointed wings, narrow body, and long neck and tail, and its swiftness in flight, make it a handsome bird.

The pintail is the first duck always to arrive from the South and they push on north regardless of snow-storms and cold winds and are always thin in flesh from flying so much. In the Fall one rarely sees them but in the Spring they are often seen in large flocks. They are very wary, also, and the hunter is lucky if he gets a shot at a flock of any size. They seem to be constantly on the alert. The male bird is very handsome, with his beautiful rich brown head and neck striped with white. They have been seen inside the Polar Circle and usually nest .in the far North, although nesting somewhat in the Dakotas, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The pintail associates considerably with the mallard, and mounted specimens of hybrids may be seen at the Field Museum, Jackson Park, and the Academy of Sciences, Lincoln Park, Chicago. Both pintails and mallards are fond of frequenting little ponds in the cornfields in the Spring and also are often found on the prairies where cattle are being fattened for the market by being fed corn, the birds picking up the scattered kernels wasted by the cattle.

The pintail is somewhat erratic in their flight, darting about considerable, but generally remain well up in the air and in the Spring bearing generally in a northerly direction.

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