GAME-BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



birds ; they happened to faU on dry land, and I caught them 

 and had them tame for some time. They quickly lost their 

 wildness, and fed with the ordinary domestic ducks around 

 the house. 



The Red-bill has been imported into Europe, and has bred 

 in the Zoological Gardens in London, but in the living state 

 it is very expensive to buy, being to-day worth some five or 

 six pounds per pair. 



It is a near relation of the Bahama Duck (P. bahamensis), 

 which is found in the West Indian Islands, and which is 

 a common bird in collections of ornamental water-fowl in 

 Europe. 



The note of the Red-bill is a rather low, harsh quack, but 

 it is seldom uttered. 



From what Sergt. Davies writes me, March appears to 

 be the principal breeding-month in Griqualand, as during 

 it he came across nests and broods of young of this species, 

 as well as Yellow-bills, Pochards, and White-backed Ducks. 



Red-bill usually nest among thick herbage and grass 

 growing on the borders of lakes and ponds. The nest is 

 built of grass, reeds or sedges, and lined with down from 

 the breast of the female. The eggs are from eight to ten 

 in number, and are described by FitzSimmons as being of 

 a light greenish-white colour ; examples in the South African 

 Museum are creamy-brown and glossy ; fairly oval in shape, 

 and measure 2.0 by 1.55 in. 



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