( 79 ) 



70. Pternistes nudicoUis (Bodd.). 



<5. Upper Shire River, June 2(Jtli. '• Bill urauge-red, base vermilion ; 

 triangular bare space behind eye, chin, and forepart of throat vermilion-red." 



71. Francolinus johnstoni Shell. 



An immature male, September 19th, Monkey Bay, Lake Nyassa. " Maxilla 

 dark horn-colour; mandible very light horn-colour; iris yellowish brown; legs 

 brownish orange, edges of scales blackish. Stomach seeds." 



72. Numida mitrata Pall. 



(J?. Upper Shire River, c? ad. "Bill horn-colciur at tip, then whitish, 

 shading to brown on upper and red on lower mandible : round eye and throat as 

 well as at the base of the wattles brilliant blue; iris brown; forehead and base 

 of beak vermilion, fading to brown on the helmet; legs and feet slate-colour. 

 Stomach full of various kinds of seeds." 



73. Otis melanogaster Rftpp. 



An immature m'tle, Upper Shir^ River, March; in moult. " Iris yellowish brown, 

 with pupillary margin of a darker shade; bill horn-coloured above, greenish white 

 below ; legs and feet dull greenish yellow, light in tint. Stomach filled with locusts 

 and other insects, together with some vegetable matter." 



An egg of this species was found on December 7th, on the luchila plain. The 

 bird got up under Dr. Rendall's feet. The nest was only a shallow hollow in the 

 ground, with practically no nest at all. The egg was quite fresh. It is of the 

 same colour as most European and other Bustard eggs, with larger brown and 

 mostly smaller deeper-lying spots and patches of a lilac-grey, and almost perfectly 

 round, measuring 55 : 53'1 mm. As several eggs of Otidae are descriljed as being 

 very round, the extremely round form of this egg is probably not abnormal. The 

 egg does not aj)pear to have been described before. 



74. Balearica chrysopelargus (i;iclit.). 



c? ad. August 8th, on the S.E. arm of Lake N^vassa. " Bill blackish horn, as 

 is also the bare skin round its base; bare oral patch behind eyes white, tipped 

 with orange-red on its upper segment; legs, tarsus, and feet dull slate-grey, blacker 

 below; irides silvery white. Tiie stomach contained grit, mapira, and a few fresh- 

 water shells and helices." 



75. Porphyrio porphyrio (L.). 

 Common. Irides brownish red or orange. 



76. Porphyrio alleni Thomps. 



S :id. !May, Up|ier Shire River. •' Bill dull red at tip, base and frontal shield 

 dull slate-colour; irides deep crimson; legs bright orange; tarsus, feet, and claws 

 dark red-brown." 



