HELIORNITHID^ 



PODICA 



275 



Podica senegalensis, Reichenow, Vog. Afr. i, p. 298 (1900) [in part]. 

 " Sun-Grebe " or "Water Treader " of some authors. 



Description. Adult Male. General colour above dark brown 

 becoming quite black on the crown, back of the neck and tail- 

 feathers ; mantle feathers and some of the lesser coverts with sub- 

 terminal rounded white spots ; sides of the face including the ear- 

 coverts, chin and neck below, bluish grey ; rest of the lower surface 

 white with a fulvous tinge, the fore-neck black, mottled with white, 

 the sides of the breast, flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts, mottled 

 and barred with fulvous brown ; under wing-coverts spotted with 

 white. 



FIG. 89. Head of Podica pctersi, ?. x f 



Iris hazel ; bill orange-red, darker along the culmen ; legs 

 orange-red. 



Length about 27-0; wing 9*50 ; tail 7*5; tarsus 2-0; middle toe 

 and claw 3-12 ; culmen 2-10. 



The female is smaller, and has a white eyebrow and a distinct 

 white line running down the neck on either side from behind the 

 eye ; the chin is white and separated from the lateral white stripe 

 by a dark grey stripe, the lower part of the neck and fore-neck is 

 mottled black and white. 



Iris pale yellow ; wing 8-0 ; tarsus 1-87 ; culmen 1-80. 



There are six examples of this species in the South African 

 Museum, all from the eastern portion of the Colony ; two of these 

 are females, three are males, one is probably a male, judging by 

 its wings. All these, with the exception of the last named, have 

 the white line down the side of the neck and are in the state of 



