(BLACK-HEADED DUCK.)
+Heteronetta melanocephala+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 382.
+Anas melanocephala+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 129; _Durnford,
Ibis_, 1878, p. 64 (Buenos Ayres).
_Description._--Above deep blackish brown, minutely vermiculated
with rufous; head and neck black; narrow terminal band on the
secondaries white; beneath dirty white, on the upper breast, flanks,
and crissum freckled with rufous; bill blackish, with a basal spot
on each side flesh-colour; feet horny brown: whole length 14·5
inches, wing 6·3, tail 2·3. _Female_ similar, but head like the
back; cheeks brown, freckled with black, and throat and superciliary
stripe whitish.
_Hab._ Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chili.
This small, obscurely coloured Duck extends from Southern Brazil over
the pampas of Buenos Ayres into Chili. Near Buenos Ayres it is scarce.
Durnford shot a pair in September 1876, in the reed-beds of Alvear,
about twenty miles to the north-west of the city.