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Range (Northern hemisphere in America) (II)

Northern hemisphere; in America, more common in the interior; breeds regularly from Minnesota northward and locally as far south as Texas; not known to breed in the Atlantic States; winters from southern Illinois and Virginia southward to northern South America.

Washington, not uncommon W. V. Long Island, rare T. V. Sing Sing, A. V., Oct.

Eggs, six to ten, pale buffy white or bluish white, 2.10 × 1.50. The Shoveler, like most of the members of this subfamily, is more common in the Mississippi Valley than on the coast. It is generally a silent bird, but its note in the breeding season is said to be "took, took." It feeds largely by tipping in shallow water. 143. Dafila acuta (Linn.). PINTAIL; SPRIGTAIL. Ad. 8.-Head and throat olive-brown; back of the neck blackish, bordered by white stripes, which pass to the breast; breast and belly white; the abdomen faintly and the sides strongly marked with wavy lines of black and white; back somewhat darker than the sides; scapulars black, bordered or streaked with buffy white; wing-coverts brownish gray, the greater ones tipped with rufous; speculum green; central tail-feathers glossed with green and much elongated. Ad. .-Throat white or whitish, crown and sides of the head streaked with blackish and buffy ochraceous, darker above; breast washed with buffy ochraceous and spotted with blackish; belly white; abdomen more or less indistinctly mottled with blackish; sides with bars and lengthened black and white crescents; under wing-coverts fuscous, bordered with whitish; axillars barred or mottled with black; back fuscous, the feathers with borders, bars, or crescents of white or buffy; speculum grayish brown bordered with white. & in breeding plumage. -" Similar to ad. 2, but wings as in spring or winter plumage" (Ridgw.). Im. - The im. & is variously intermediate between the ad. & and ; the im. resembles the ad. 9, but the under parts are more heavily streaked or spotted. L., 8,28.00, 22.00; W., 10.00; T., 8,7.50, 2, 3.60; B., 2.00.