





CRESTED SHELDRAKE 



PSEUDOTADORNA CRIST AT A Kuhoda 



i\r 



Synonymy 



Tadorna casarca X Querquedala falcata? Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1890, p. 1, 



pi. 1. 

 Pseudotadorna cristata Kuroda, Tori (Aves), no. 5, p. 1-6, 1917; Kuroda, Annota- 

 tions Zool. Japonenses, vol. 9, p. 495, 1918. 



Vernacular Names 

 English: Japanese: 



Crested Sheldrake Kammuri-tsukushi-gamo 



Kuroda's Sheldrake Chosen-oshi 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult (type of species and probably a female, shot on the Naktung River near Fusan, Korea, Decem- 

 ber, 1916): Crown of head, nape, a broad longitudinal band on the hind neck, upper tail-coverts and 

 primaries black, with some greenish luster; nuchal feathers considerably elongated, forming a pend- 

 ant crest or tuft; in ocular region a conspicuous spectacled patch prolonged to side of occiput; under 

 this patch a blackish-brown band, continued alongside the black of the head and nape; forehead, 

 base of bill, chin and upper throat pure white; sides of neck and upper forehead white, sparsely and 

 indistinctly barred. and spotted with dusky brown, but more distinctly near the cheek (Kuroda, 

 1917). Mantle, back, chest, sides of body and abdomen dark brown with narrow but distinct white 

 lines; upper parts darker than lower parts. The wing is that of a typical Sheldrake; wing-coverts 

 white, bastard wing and primaries black, a green speculum on the inner secondaries, tertials gray with 

 large blotch of brownish chestnut on outer webs. 



Bill and feet light colored. 



Wing 310 mm.; culmen 41.5; tarsus 47. 



DISTRIBUTION 



This duck is known from Korea, and from Ussuri Province. 



Remarks: This species was first described by Sclater (Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1890, p. 1) from a 

 specimen taken near Vladivostok in April, 1877, by Lieut. Fr. Irminger. Dr. Sclater supposed the bird 

 to be a hybrid between the Ruddy Sheldrake and the Falcated Teal, and at the same time published 

 a fine plate, figuring the specimen. In 1917, Mr. N. Kuroda described a second specimen taken near 

 Fusan, Korea, in December, 1916. He gave it the name Pseudotadorna cristata, and later published 

 a plate. It is evident that the supposed hybrid described by Sclater and this new Sheldrake are one 

 and the same bird. According to Uchida (Tori, vol. 2, no. 6, p. 6-8, 1918) birds of this species seem to 

 have been imported from Korea to Japan some two hundred years ago. It was known by the Jap- 

 anese name "Chosen-oshi," and both sexes are described in an old Japanese ornithological work 

 called "Kanbun-kinpu." Mr. Kuroda has been kind enough to send me a photograph of an ancient 

 Japanese drawing in which both sexes are shown. The female in the drawing evidently corresponds 

 to the new Sheldrake, while the male is represented as also carrying a crest, and as having, in addition, 

 a sharply defined black or perhaps dark-red breast. In his letter Mr. Kuroda says that he has recently 



