52 SCOPID^ SCOPUS 



avd Plwlugraphs, p. 146, pi. 38 [nest] (1901) ; Reichenow, Vog. 

 Afr. i, p. 353 (1901) ; Hellmayr, Journ. Ornith, 1902, p. 236 [Pienaars 

 River] ; Whitehead, Ibis, 1903, p. 237 ; Oatex, Cat B. Eggs, ii, p. 109 

 (1902); Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 16 [Deelfontein] ; Slwrtridge, Ibis, 

 1904, p. 206. 

 "Hammerkop" or sometimes " Paddevanger '' (i.e.. Toad-catcher) of 

 the Dutch; "Mudlark" of Natal Colonists; "Utekwane" of the 

 Amaxosa (Stanford) ; " Itegwana " of the Zulus (Woodward) ; 

 " Machanoka" in the Transvaal (Penther). 



Descrijjtion. Adult. — General colour above sepia brown with 

 here and there shght traces of a purpUsh gloss ; a noticeable crest 

 on the nape ; the feathers about three inches long ; wing-quills 

 darker than the back with a stronger purplish gloss ; tail also some- 

 what glossy, paler with a broad darker subterminal baud and six 

 or seven narrow, rather irregular, transverse bands above ; below 

 brown throughout, rather paler than the back, under tail-coverts 

 barred with darker. 



Iris dark brown ; bill and legs black. 



Length of a male (in the flesh) 22-25 ; wing 12-75 ; tail 6-70 ; 

 culmen 3-30; tarsus 3-0; middle toe and claw 2-35. 



The female resembles the male in plumage and measurements. 

 The nestling is covered with white down with a slight greyish tinge 

 on the back. 



Distribution. — The Hammerkop is found throughout the whole 

 of Africa from Senegal and Abyssinia southwards as well as in 

 Arabia and Madagascar. It appears to be a resident everywhere. 



In South Africa this bird is abundant throughout the country 

 from near Cape Town to the Zambesi, as is shown in the following 

 list of recorded localities. Cape Colony — Cape, Malmesbury, 

 Caledon, Hanover, Middelburg and Pondoland divisions (S. A. Mus.), 

 Knysna (Victorin), Nelspoort in Beaufort West, breeding (Layard), 

 Deelfontein (Seimund), Orange Eiver, near Aliwal North (White- 

 head), Port Elizabeth and East London (Eickard) ; Natal — near 

 Durban (Shelley), near Maritzburg (Bt. Mus.), Ladysmith and 

 Newcastle (Butler), Zululand (Woodward) ; Orange Eiver Colony — 

 Vredefort Ed. (B. Hamilton) ; Basutoland, common (W. L. Sclater), 

 Transvaal — Potchefstroom (Ayres), Pienaars Eiver Bridge in Pre- 

 toria district (Penther), near Johannesburg (Haagner), Barberton 

 (Kendall) ; Bechuanaland — Makalapsi Eiver (Oates) ; Ehodesia — 

 Zambesi at Victoria Falls (W. L. Sclater), near Salisbury (Mar- 

 shall) ; German South-west Africa — Damaraland and Namaqualand 

 (Andersson) ; Portuguese East Africa— Chicowa on the Zambesi 

 (Alexander). 



