COMB or KNOB-BILLED DUCK 69 



with rufous gray; rest of upper plumage and wings black, glossed with green and blue, except on the 

 secondaries, which are glossed with bronze, and the scapulars, on which the gloss is purple; tail 

 brown. A black mark, almost a collar, on sides of neck, and another black band on the front of the 

 under tail-coverts. Lower back gray (Baker, 1908). 



Iris dark brown to yellowish brown; bill black, and at breeding season surmounted by a comb-like 

 protuberance at the base, which is black with white spots (white spots do not occur regularly) ; feet 

 dark leadish gray. 



Bill paler on the lower mandible, and fleshy toward its base (Hume and Marshall, 1879). The fleshy 

 protuberance on the bill becomes greatly enlarged during the breeding season, frequently measuring 

 55 by 61 mm. (A. Anderson, 1874). 



According to Bohm (1882), Finn (1909), and Horsbrugh (1912) the male during the breeding season 

 carries a small bunch of orange feathers at the sides of the lower abdomen. Writing of a male of the 

 closely related S. carunculata, which was recently received in the London Zoological Gardens, Seth 

 Smith in the London Field of May 29, 1915, mentions the bright yellow feathers at the base of the tail, 

 and also a patch on either side of the head. Since then I have seen these curious feather tracts in a 

 live bird in New York. This yellow coloring is assumed only in the breeding season and fades im- 

 mediately in dried specimens. 



Length 620 to 750 mm.; wing 350 to 380; tail 135 to 150; bill 57 to 60; tarsus 55 to 75 (Reichenow, 

 1900). 



Adult Female: Like male, but smaller and duller; head and neck more spotted with black, but the 

 black less glossy in character, and the gloss on the upper parts also much less developed; lower back, 

 rump and upper tail-coverts all gray (Baker, 1908). Length about 550 to 580 mm.; wing 280 to 290; 

 tail 125; bill 50; tarsus 45 to 47 (Reichenow, 1900). 



Young: Like female, but more spotted about the head and browner all over the upper parts. 



Young m Down (specimens, British Museum) : Very characteristic and having a distinct resem- 

 blance in head pattern to the young of Tree Ducks. Occiput black or dark brown, superciliary stripe 

 white. Transocular streak, which extends back and merges with the occipital patch, dark brown. 

 Behind the occipital patch is a white band which runs around the back of the head and merges with 

 the white of the face on each side. Back of this from ear to ear is a narrow black line. Down the back 

 of the neck runs a black streak which merges with the dark brown of the mantle and whole upper 

 side. The upper surface carries very marked white patches on the wing rudiments, scapular areas, 

 flanks and sides of rump. The lower surface is grayish. 



DISTRIBUTION 



The Comb Duck is a species resident in Africa and in India, though in both regions it moves about 

 locally to a considerable extent, according to the change of season and the supply of water. In Africa 

 its distribution is practically the same as that of Dendrocygna viduata or of Plectropterus gambensis; 

 for like those species it is found south of the fifteenth parallel of north latitude, and like them it is 

 rare in South Africa. In the west it has been recorded from many localities in Senegambia by Roche- 

 brune (1883—85), whose work, however, has been called into question by Reichenow in 

 his book on the birds of Africa. It occurs in Gambia (British Museum) and presum- T ., . 

 ably in French Guinea and Sierra Leone. Biittikofer (1885) has recorded it from western jj:~ er j a 

 Liberia, Sugary River, and Pel (Hartlaub, 1855) found it on the Gold Coast. It is 

 reasonable to suppose that it occurs along the entire Guinea coast, though it seems to be rare west 

 of Nigeria. Hartmann (1863) found it common about Loko, in Nigeria, while according to Hartert 



