SOUTH AMERICAN COMB DUCK 



SARCIDIORNIS CARUNCULATA (Lichtenstein) 

 (Plate 5) 



Synonymy 

 Anas carunculata Lichtenstein, Abhandl. Akad. Berlin, 1816-17, p. 176. 

 Sarkidiornis regia G. R. Gray, List Birds in Brit. Mus., vol. 3, p. 126, 1844. 

 Sarcidiornis regia Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. 43, p. 649, 1856. 

 Sarcidiornis melanonota Sclater and Salvin, Nomenclator Avium Neotrop., p. 129, 



1873. 

 Sarcidiornis carunculata Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1876, p. 377. 



Vernacular Names 



English: Spanish: 



South American Comb Duck Pato de crista 



South American Black-backed Duck Pato cristado 



Crested Duck Portuguese: 

 American Wattle Duck Pato do matto 



French: Pato castelhano 



Sarcidiornis caronculee „ , . 



Pato do crista 



German: 



Siidamerikanische Hockergans 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male: Differs from the Comb Duck of the Old World (S. melanota) only in having the sides 

 and flanks brownish black instead of white, the rump black, glossed with green instead of gray, while 

 the crescent-like band on the sides of the breast is not so conspicuous. 



In a specimen which I examined in the United States National Museum in Washington, the head 

 and neck appear whiter than in the Old World species, while the upper mandible is more hooked at 

 the tip. 



In the London Field of May 29, 1915, attention was called to the yellow coloring on the sides of 

 the head. As a matter of fact this is very marked, and even by mid-January a specimen in the New 

 York Zoological Gardens had the region back of the eye and the sides of the upper neck a distinct 

 canary yellow, which increased in intensity toward spring; orange feathers also appeared on the sides 

 of the rump during the same period. 



Bill dull lead color; iris black or very dark brown; legs and feet dirty yellowish green (live speci- 

 men in New York Zoological Gardens, 1920). 



Female: Same as S. melanota, but having the sides and flanks brownish black as in the male. 



Young: Nothing recorded. 



