24 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



shy and wary. The flesh of the old males is tough, 

 leathery, and strong tasting. It has an occasional 

 habit of perching on trees, a custom which it shares with 

 some other species of African water-fowl. The Egyptian 

 Goose is another very widely spread bird, ranging through 

 the greater part of Africa. In south and south-central 

 Africa it usually occurs in pairs. 



The Knob-Billed Duck is very common on the Upper 

 Zambezi, and is elsewhere distributed through most of 

 Africa. The curious knob on the bill from which it 

 derives its name is present in the males only. I have 

 seen these ducks perching upon quite high trees. They 

 are seen in the eastern Transvaal, like others of their 

 order, only as occasional migrants ; but immediately 

 to the east of the Lebombo Hills, in Portuguese East 

 Africa, they may often be noticed on the numerous small 

 lakes and pans which exist there. 



Other species common to south Africa are the Dwarf 

 Goose, the Yellow-Billed Duck, the Black Duck, the 

 Red-Billed Teal, the Cape Widgeon, the Hottentot 

 Teal, the Maccoa Duck, the White-Backed Duck, the 

 south African Pochard, the European Shoveller, the 

 Cape Shoveller, the White-Faced Duck, the Whistling 

 Duck, and the south African Sheldrake. 



Of the above, the south African Pochard, sometimes 

 known as the " diver," is partially migratory in habit 

 in south Africa, though north of the Zambezi it is met 

 with in large flocks all the year round. As its familiar 

 name implies, it seeks its food by diving entirely under 

 the water, remaining sometimes beneath the surface 

 for a considerable time, and swimming with only its 

 head and neck protruding. 



