248 CASARCA CANA 



Young in Down: Figured by Horsbrugh (1912); apparently very much like the young of the Ruddy 

 Sheldrake. 



Remarks: Holub and von Pelzeln (1882) say that some females lack totally the white on the head 

 and neck, while others have it only on cheeks or head. In general this color is to be found in all 

 shades from yellowish white, or brownish white to a snow-white. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Very little is known of this species of Sheldrake, which has a restricted range in South Africa and 

 appears to be common in only a few localities. In Cape Colony it seems to be most common on the 

 Cape high plateau, and about the Orange River (Stark and Sclater, 1906). For this region it 



Colony nas been reported as very common throughout the year at Deelfontein (Sharpe, 1904), 



and as a breeder at Carnarvon (Littledale, Journ. South African Ornith. Union, vol. 4, p. 44, 1908). 

 Holub and von Pelzeln (1882) found it common in the Eastern Province, and the South African 

 Pondoland Museum has specimens from Beaufort West, the Berg River and the Cape Flats. On 

 Griqualand the east coast it is said to occur, but not commonly, in Pondoland (Shortridge, 1904), 

 while at Matatiele, East Griqualand, it is scarce (C. G. Davies, 1908). 



As yet the species has not been seen in Natal, but there are various records for the Orange River 

 Colony. Holub and von Pelzeln (1882) speak of it as common in the Colony as a whole, and C. H. T. 

 Orange Whitehead (1903) states that it is common in autumn on the Orange River near 



River Aliwal North. According to Horsbrugh (1912) it may be seen not uncommonly 



throughout the year in the vicinity of Bloemfontein. In Basutoland, also, it is a fairly common bird 

 (Murray, fide Stark and Sclater, 1906). But farther north, at Kroonstad, it is not a plentiful species 

 (Symonds, Ibis, ser. 5, vol. 5, p. 335, 1887), while for the Transvaal there appears to be only one 

 record — that for Potchefstroom (T. Ayres, 1871). 



GENERAL HABITS 



This rare duck is an inland species, and exceedingly little is known of its life history. 

 Its chief habitat seems to be the high plateau of Cape Colony and the region about 

 the Orange River (Stark and Sclater, 1906). It is a very local species, and is rare 

 both in zoological gardens and in museums. The most recently taken museum 

 specimen which I have seen came from Nabies, Bushmanland, Cape Colony, in 1911. 



Horsbrugh (1912) invariably found them wild and suspicious, and the first to 

 leave when the shooting began; but earlier writers (Holub and von Pelzeln, 1882) 

 describe them as not shy, though cautious, this referring, however, chiefly to the 

 birds seen in the vicinity of Boer farms, where they were well treated and protected. 



The birds usually are to be found in pairs, but occasionally companies of five or 

 six are seen, presumably one family (Sharpe, 1904). 



The voice of this species is very much like that of the Ruddy Sheldrake, being a 

 loud nasal how, in addition to the usual variety of specialized notes (Horsbrugh, 

 1912). A female which I watched in the New York Gardens gave a regular Sheldrake 

 call like caak-caak rather nasal in quality and uttered slowly. 



Nothing appears to be known of the diet. 



We know almost nothing of the breeding habits of the South African Sheldrake 



