152 AXSERES EEISMATUKA 



Mr. A. D. Millar writes to me that he has visited several nests 

 in a vlei at Clairmont close to Durban. The first, found on Novem- 

 ber 24, 1901, contained two fresh eggs ; it was composed of rushes 

 and was floating in about three feet of water, while above the nest 

 the rushes were arched over for concealment. Others found on 

 December 14, 1901 and February 16, 1902, contained four, three 

 and five eggs. Butler found the nest of this Duck under very 

 similar circumstances in the Newcastle district of Natal in 

 September. 



The eggs found by Mr. Millar, two of which he has presented to 

 the South African Museum, are perfectly smooth and glossy and of 

 a warm brown colour throughout ; they are nearly regular ovals and 

 measure 2-7 x 1-9 and 2*6 x 1*95 respectively. On the other hand, 

 those obtained by Butler, now in the British Museum, are described 

 as being rough, granulated, with little gloss and of a pale greenish 

 white colour. They measure 2-6 x 2-0 and 2-55 x 2-0 

 respectively. 



Mr. Millar tells me that though he did not actually see the 

 Ducks sitting on the eggs, the birds, which he knows well, were in 

 the immediate vicinity, and that he found their feathers in the nests 

 themselves and that he is quite satisfied as to the identification. 

 Possibly Butler's eggs were those of the Maccoa Duck. 



Genus XIII. ERISMATURA. 



Type. 

 Erismatura, Bp., Sagg. Distr. Met. An. p. 143 



(1832) E. jarnaicensis. 



Bill similar to that of Thalassornis but the culmen slightly 

 concave and the nail bent downwards and inwards, forming an 

 acute angle with the line of the culmen ; lamellae along the edge of 

 the upper mandible coarse and somewhat visible ; no nuchal crest ; 

 wings short and rounded, not reaching the base of the tail, the 

 primaries hardly exceeding the secondaries in length ; tail of 18 

 feathers which are narrow, stiff, graduated and very long, being 

 about half the length of the wing ; tarsus and foot as in 

 Thalassornis. 



Salvador! in the British Museum Catalogue includes seven 

 species in this genus ; they are generally distributed over the greater 

 part of the Old and New Worlds. Only the single African species 

 is found within our limits. 



