116 
ANAS UNDULATA 
Transvaal 
met with it at Shesheke on the upper Zambesi, but in northern Rhodesia and even in Mashonaland 
it does not appear to be very common (G. A. K. Marshall, 1900; Neave, 1910; Shelley, 1882). 
For Nyassaland we have only Whyte’s (Shelley, 1894) record for the Palombi River which leads 
me to suppose that the species is rather rarer north of 20° south latitude. Still it is common in 
Bechuanaland on Lake Ngami and the Botletle River (Andersson, 1872) and at Nocana on the 
Okavango River (Fleck, 1894). In the Transvaal it is very common on the Wakker- 
stroom (W. L. Sclater, 1912a) and breeds on the Potchefstroom (Horsbrugh, 1912). 
It has also been recorded from Pretoria (F. Oates, 1881). 
Nowhere, however, does the species appear to be so common as in the region south of the Orange 
River. In the west, though he did not find it in German West Africa, Andersson (1872) remarks that 
it is abundant south of the Orange, and its abundance in Cape Colony is also well attested by others. 
The South African Museum has specimens from the Cape and Mossel Bay division, and Layard 
(1875-84) has recorded its nesting in Vogel Vlei in Paarl, and Zoetendal’s Vlei in Bredasdorp. Ac- 
cording to Brown it is fairly common at Port Elizabeth, but Wood states that it is rare at East 
South Africa Stark and Sclater, 1906). This is not unexpected considering that the 
species is distinctly a fresh-water bird and is therefore rare on the coasts. Trevelyan 
(fide Stark and Sclater, 1906) has recorded it for King William’s Town where it used to be abun- 
dant but is now growing rare (Clifton, 1888). It is not common on the St. John’s River, according 
to Shortridge (1904). Holub and von Pelzeln (1882) found it near Taungs, West Griqualand. In 
East Griqualand the species breeds (Horsbrugh, 1912) and is very common at Matatiele (C. G. 
Davies, 1908). It is found also in Natal, though not on the coast (Horsbrugh, 1912). Buckley (1874) 
and Barratt (1876) have recorded it from the Mooi River in this Colony, while the Woodwards 
(1899) found it at Weenen and Maritzburg, and Butler, Feilden and Reid (1882) in the Newcastle 
district. T. Ayres (1880) states that it breeds in Natal. On the west side of the Drakensbergen 
the species is very common in Basutoland (Murray, fide Stark and Sclater, 1906) and has been 
found in the Orange River Colony on the Rhenoster River (T. Ayres, 1880) and breeding in the 
Harrismith district (Sparrow, Stark and Sclater, 1906). Hamilton (ibid.) has recorded it from 
Vredefort Road Station in the same Colony. 
GENERAL HABITS 
Haunts. One of the commonest and, to the South African sportsman, most impor- 
tant ducks, this species is found all over the open country, on vleis (lakes) and rivers. 
Like other South African ducks they come and go with the rains. On the Orange 
and Limpopo Rivers they are found in reedy ponds, salt lakes and reedy streams 
(Holub and von Pelzeln, 1882). Farther north, in the Kilimandjaro region they are 
found at elevations as high as 11,000 feet (Johnston, 1886), and in the Masai 
country they have been found up to 6500 feet (G. A. Fischer, 1884). In the mountain 
streams of southern Abyssinia, and about Lake Tana it is a very common bird (von 
Erlanger, 1905; von Heuglin, 1873; etc.) and is found at altitudes of from 8000 to 
9000 feet. 
Wariness. By nature the Yellow-bill does not seem to be a wary bird, but in 
South Africa, where it has been persecuted a good deal, it is said to exhibit “all the 
wariness and caution of its race” (Layard, 1875-84). xAyres (Layard, 1875-84) 
says that in Natal he frequently found them lying so close in the rushes, where the 
water was about knee-deep, as to allow themselves to be almost trodden on. Most 
