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Show 200 DR. P. CHALMERS MITCHELL OX [Nov. 15 3. On the Species of Crowned Cranes. By P. C h a lm e r s M i t c h e l l , M .A., D.Sc., Secretary to the Society- [Received November 15,1904 .j (Text-figures 37-40.) [The complete account of the new species described in this communication appears here; but since the name and preliminary diagnosis were published in the ‘ Abstract,' the new species is distinguished by the name being underlined.- E d it o r .] I have had the good fortune to see no less than fifteen living examples of the Crowned Crane in the course of this year, and the obvious differences between two types heretofore included under the name Balearica pavonina led me to examine the literature on the subject and the skins in the National Museum, as well as some shown me by private friends, with the result that I believe I am able to make a slight addition to our knowledge of these beautiful birds. The two major species of this group were figured by George Edwards, the " Library-Keeper " to the Royal College of Physicians, in his ‘ Natural History of Birds ' (vol. iv. p. 192), published in 1751. They were not definitely named but described as the " Crowned African Cranes " : the figure in the foreground, which he supposed to be that of the male of a pair-, is a good representation of the Cape Crowned Crane ; while the other figure, designated the female by Edwards, is an excellent figure of a "West-African Crowned Crane. The latter figure shows the darker coloration of the neck and back, and the division of the bare cheek-area into nearly equal white upper and pink low er half characteristic of the West-African form ; while the other figure shows the grey coloration of the upper part of the body and the very large pendent neck-wattle equally characteristic of the Cape form. It will be more convenient to group my subsequent remarks under the names of the species. Balearica regulorum (Benn.). The Cape Crowned Crane.-I follow Reichenow (Die Vogel Afrikas, vol. i. p. 265) in using this name instead of B. chrysopelargus of the B.M. Catalogue. The latter name depends on Lichtenstein's * Catalogus Rerum Natu-ralium Rarissirnarum,' but the specimens on which Lichtenstein founded his descriptions are not known, and the description of Ardea chrysopelargus is far- too vague to be applied with certainty to this or any other Crowned Crane. I have seen four living examples (of these, three are at present in the Gardens at Regent's Park) and a number of skins. The feathers of the neck and back are silvery grey. The most striking distinctive characters of the four species, however, are to be found in the heads, of which I give outline figures. The large, bare cheek-patch (text-fig. 37, p. 202) is divided into a small, upper, roughly triangular area which is bright red in colour; the lower part of the patch, which usually |