1917-] Breeding of the South African Black Duck. 69 



V. — On the Breeding of the South African Black Duck 

 (Anas sparsa). By F. E. Blaauw, M.B.O.U. 



(Plate I.) 



Anas sparsa is rather a peculiar Duck, and it has a charm 

 of its own, owing to the mystery which surrounds it. When 

 I was in South Africa in the spring of 1914 I only once 

 succeeded in seeing this Duck in its native haunts. I was 

 following the course of a mountain-stream in the Zwarte 

 bergeu in the Oudtshoorn district on my way to the Cango 

 caves, and in one of the wildest parts I flushed a Duck of 

 this species. The bird only flew away a short distance, and 

 then kept anxiously looking back at me without going 

 farther away, and this made me think that she had a family 

 hidden somewhere near me. 



Although I tried very hard to find the supposed young 

 ones, I did not succeed, probably owing to the banks being 

 full of rank vegetation, in which any number of chicks 

 might safely hide away. 



Later on, in Natal, I chanced to come across a pair of 

 these Ducks which were kept in confinement, and which I 

 brought safely home to Holland. 



The male of this species is larger than the female, and the 

 grey body-colour is lighter in shade, whilst in the female it 

 is nearly black. 



The result is that the white spots, which look much like 

 snow-flakes, are more conspicuous in the female. 



The wing-bar is very beautiful in both sexes, being of a 

 metallic blue which changes into purple and green, and is 

 edged by a white bar and velvety black. 



The bill in both sexes is blue, with a black saddle-mark 

 on the upper mandible which does not quite reach to the 

 head. The nail is black. There is no yellow anywhere on 

 the bill. The legs and toes are orange, clearest in the male. 

 The webs are dusky. 



