SAECIDIOKNIS. 423- 



1584. Sarcidiornis melanonotus. The Comb Duck or Nukta. 

 (Fig. 101, p. 411.) 



Anser melanotus, Penn. Faunula Indica, p. 12, pi. xii (1769) ; 



Newton, S. F, viii, p. 415. 

 Sarcidiornis melanotus, Blyt1t 9 Cat, p. 302 ; Barnes, Jour, Bom. 



N. H. Soc. vi, p. 286. 

 Sarkidiornis melanonotus, Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 785; A. Anderson, 



Ibis, 1874, p. 2:20 ; Adam, S. F. i, p. 401 ; Sutler $ Hume, S. F. 



iv, p. 27 ; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 231 ; Hume, ibid. p. 507 ; Sutler, S. F* 



viii, p. 387. 

 Sarcidiornis melanonotus, Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 175 ; Hume, S. F. vii, 



p. 491 ; id. Cat. no. 950 ; Hume fy Marsh. Game B. iii, p. 91,. 



; Legge, Bi 

 Ceyl. p. 1063 ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 79 ; Hume, ibid. p. 417 ; Taylor, ibid. 



pi. ; Butler, S. F. ix, p. 436 ; Parker, ibid. p. 486 ; Legge, Birds 



pp, 528, 531 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 396; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 343; 

 Oates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 282. 



Sarcidiornis melanonota, Sclat. P. Z. S. 1876, p. 694, pi. Ixvii ; Oates, 

 B. B. ii, p. 275 ; Salvadori, Cat. B. M. xxvii, p. 54 ; Baker, Jour. 

 Bom. N. H. Soc. xi, p. 172. 



The Black-backed Goose, Jerdon. Nukta, H. ; Nakwa, Chutia Nagpur ; 

 Ndki hdnsa, Uriya ; Jutu chil-luwa, Tel. ; Dod sarle haki, Can. ; Neer 

 koli, Coimbatore ; Tau-bai, Burm. ; Bowkbang, Karen. 



Coloration. Male. Head and neck white, spotted with glossy 

 black, the black prevailing on the crown and a band along the 

 hind neck : lower neck all round, breast, abdomen, and lower tail- 

 coverts pure white ; upper back, scapulars, wings, rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and tail black, the secondaries and their greater coverts 

 glossed with bronze-green, the scapulars with purple, the other 

 parts with green and purplish blue ; lower back brownish grey, 

 sides of breast and flanks pale ashy grey ; a black bar from the upper 

 back to each side of the upper breast, and another from the rump 

 to the lower flanks. 



Female much smaller, but similarly coloured, with less gloss on 

 the back and wings and more black on the head and neck. 



Younger birds are brown instead of black, and the lower parts 

 are tinged with rusty red. 



Iris brown ; bill and comb black ; legs and feet very dark brown 

 (Oates), greenish plumbeous (Jerdon). 



Length of male about 30 ; tail 5'5 ; wing 15 ; tarsus 2-75 ; bill 

 from gape 2'7. Female : length 26 ; tail 4'5 ; wing 11*25 ;. 

 tarsus 2-1 ; bill from gape 2-2. 



Distribution. India, Ceylon, and Burma in suitable localities , 

 also Africa south of the Sahara, and Madagascar. Common in 

 well-wooded and well-watered parts of the country, rare or 

 wanting in India south of Mysore, in the Bombay Deccan, the 

 desert tracts, Sind and the Western Punjab, also in Tenasserim. 



Habits, $c. The Nukta is generally found about large marshy 

 tanks and jheels with reedy margins in well-wooded countries. It 

 keeps in small flocks of 4 to 10 throughout the cold season and in 

 pairs at other times. Larger flocks are said to occur, but they are- 

 not often seen. It breeds on trees, and frequently perches on 

 them. The nest consists of a few sticks with dead leaves, grass,, 



