10 PHALACROCORACID.E PHALACROCORAX 



Length about 23; wing 8*75; tail 5-5; culmen 1-25; tarsus 1-5. 

 The adult in non-breeding plumage is brown above and below, only 

 the throat being of a dirty white ; there are no white plumelets about 

 the sides of the head, nor is there any trace of a crest. The iris is 

 light ashy brown according to Ayres. Young birds have the head 

 and back of the neck brown, the scapulars and wing-coverts silvery, 

 with a narrow white edging and a subterminal band of black ; below 

 dirty white washed with yellowish, most strongly on the lower neck 

 and upper breast. 



A young nestling is covered with black down except on the top 

 of the head and on the throat, which are bare and yellow ; the iris 

 is pale blue, the bill and legs black, and the webs between the toes 

 brown. 



Distribution. This Duiker is found throughout the greater part 

 of Africa from the Gambia and Upper Egypt (Fayoum) southwards. 

 It also occurs in Madagascar. Unlike the other African Cormorants 

 it is by no means confined to the sea coast, but occurs inland along 

 most of the rivers and on the lakes. 



In South Africa the Reed Duiker is generally distributed through- 

 out the country wherever there are suitable conditions. The 

 following are recorded localities : Cape Colony Table Bay, Dassen 

 Island, breeding July, Saldanha Bay, breeding September, Berg 

 Eiver, breeding September, Port Nolloth (S. A. Mus.), Port 

 Elizabeth (Brown), Port St. Johns (Shortridge), Grahams Town 

 (Barber), Colesberg (Arnot), and Kuruman (Exton) ; Natal New- 

 castle, September (Butler), St. Lucia Lake, June nesting (Wood- 

 ward) ; Transvaal Potchefstroom, May to July (Ayres), Pienaars 

 River, April (Penther) ; Bechuanaland Lake Ngami (Andersson), 

 Nocana on the Okovango, July (Fleck) ; Rhodesia Zambesi above 

 Victoria Falls very common (W. Scl.), Shagari, Gurbi and Kirosuro 

 Rivers in Mashonaland (Marshall) ; German South West Africa 

 Possession Island, nesting (Wahlberg) ; Portuguese East Africa 

 Zambesi (Kirk and Alexander). 



Habits. This little Duiker is found as a rule along rivers and 

 about lagoons and lakes, and is by no means confined to the coast. 

 It is a somewhat solitary bird and has a strong and rapid flight ; 

 when swimming it floats very low in the water so that little of its 

 back is visible and only the long neck, craning to and fro like a snake, 

 can be distinguished ; it dives with great ease and feeds chiefly on 

 fish, though it will also take insects and mollusca. During the 

 middle of the day it spends most of its time resting on a bare branch 



