COMB or KNOB-BILLED DUCK 75 



is yellowish white, or grayish yellow, of fine texture, smooth and fairly glossy (Reich- 

 enow, 1900). 



Status of Species. I can find no recent account of the status of this species. 

 Baker (1908) is of the opinion that it needs protection during the breeding season, 

 from June first to December first. As already remarked under Distribution, it 

 has always been rare in South Africa, except on the Upper Zambesi, and Taylor 

 states that, having been too much disturbed, it no longer breeds in the Transvaal. 

 In northern Nigeria, Hartert (1915) records it as occurring in "very great numbers"; 

 while on the upper White Nile, and on the Bahr-el-Ghazal, Butler recently found it 

 "very abundant." Several writers speak of this species as being detrimental to 

 freshly sown fields, and it may therefore come more and more into conflict with 

 agricultural interests. Rice-fields seem to suffer particularly from its raids, and in 

 South Africa, Horsbrugh (1912) speaks of its being very destructive to lands sown 

 with "mealies and oats." 



Food Value. Although this species cannot be considered a very popular bird 

 for the table, nearly all writers are in accord as to its flesh being fairly good eating; 

 at least it usually is better than the Spur-wing or the Egyptian Goose. The young 

 birds are said to be excellent as food. Horsbrugh (1912) found it "not particularly 

 good" in East Africa, while A. L. Butler (1905) considers its flesh more palatable 

 in Africa than in India. Hume and Marshall (1879) and Jerdon (1864) have formed 

 a somewhat lower estimate of its edible qualities in India, and the former write 

 that even the young in early winter, when they are fat and tender, are apt to have a 

 marshy flavor which it is necessary to conceal. Bryden (1893), speaking of South 

 Africa, thought that, of the three so-called African geese, the Spur-wing was best, 

 and the Egyptian Goose the poorest. Of course none of these is to be compared 

 with the true or northern geese. 



Hunt. Pollen and Dam (1868) mention that in Madagascar the Comb Ducks are 

 taken during the rainy season in nets. They are said to afford some very good shoot- 

 ing at the commencement of the rains in India. Horsbrugh (1912) speaks of some 

 being taken in traps in cultivated areas in South Africa. 



Behavior in Captivity. Although this bird has been commonly kept in parks 

 and in zoological gardens for many years, there is only one recorded instance of its 

 nesting in confinement. One of Mr. Blaauw's pinioned female birds in 1902 began 

 to search for a nesting-site. She climbed over a wire fence and nested under a hedge, 

 where she scraped a round depression in the soil and laid her eggs, all of which un- 

 fortunately proved to be sterile. The bird did not sit (Blaauw in litt.). 



