PHALACROCORACID2E PHALACROCORAX 



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566. Phalacrocorax neglectus. Bank Duiker. 



Graculus neglectus, Wahlb., Oefvers. K. Vet. Akad. Fork. Stockh., 1855, 

 p. 214 ; Gurney, in Andersson's B. Damaral. p. 369 (1872). 



Phalacrocorax neglectus, Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. 8. Afr. p. 779 (1884) ; 

 Fairbridge, Ibis, 1893, p. 278 ; W. L. Sclater, Ibis, 1896, pp. 521, 2, 

 1904, p. 82 ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 160 (1896) ; Grant, Cat. B. M. xxvi, 

 p. 374 (1898) ; Reichenow, Vog. Afr. i, p. 91 (1900). 



Description. Adult. General colour throughout black, slightly 

 glossed with greenish, especially below ; sides of the back and wing 

 coverts bronzy brown edged with black ; round the neck a few 

 scattered white plumelets giving a speckled appearance, and on the 

 rump a few white feathers sometimes very conspicuous, especially 

 when the bird is flying. Tail with twelve feathers only. Sides of 

 the face and throat much more feathered than in the other species ; 

 the feathers on the forehead can be erected at will to form a crest. 



Iris light brown ; sometimes green on the lower half ; bill black, 

 greyish at the tip of the upper mandible ; naked skin of the eyelid 

 and at the base of the mandible as well as the legs black. 



Length of a. male (in the flesh) 30-0; wing 11-75 ; tail 5-5; culmen 

 2-5; tarsus 2-5; the female is smaller, length 27'0; wing 10-5; 

 culmen 2-25. The young bird is browner throughout. The white 

 feathers on the rump vary in development and are probably a sign 

 of an adult breeding bird. 



There is a curious pied variety of this cormorant in the South 

 African Museum in which the head, upper part of the neck, wings 

 and tail are mottled black and white, while the upper and lower 

 surfaces of the body are white with a few scattered black feathers. 



Distribution. The Bank Duiker was first described by the 

 Swedish collector Wahlberg, who met with it on Possession, 

 Halifax and Ichaboe Islands off the coast of Great Namaqualand ; 

 from here its range extends southwards certainly as far as Simons 

 Bay. It was met with by Stark at Port Nolloth, and breeds on 

 .Tutten Isle at Saldanha Bay and on Dassen Isle. 



Habits. The Bank Duiker has got its name from the fact that 

 for feeding purposes it chiefly frequents fishing banks where there 

 is a good deal of seaweed growing, and about which it finds 

 Crayfish (Palinurus lalandii), and Hottentot fish (Catharus blochi), 

 which form the bulk of its food. 



It is not nearly so abundant as the Trek Duiker, and is generally 

 found only in small parties of thrge or four. It probably breeds 

 on most of the Guano Islands, but has been observed on Dassen 



