292 OTIDID^. 



feathers : the fore neck and chest slaty blue ; remainder of under 

 surface of body black ; sides of chest for the most part mottled with 

 sandy-buff spots like the back, followed by a conspicuous patch of 

 white, these white feathers shaded with bluish grey : " bill with the 

 basal part ashy j-ellowish, the ends of the mandibles pale ashy, 

 culmen dusky ; tarsi and feet nearly white ; iris dull tawny brown " 

 {T. Ayres). Total length 16 inches, culmen 1-35, wing 10-6, 

 tail 4-6, tarsus 3-2. 



Adult female. Similar to the male as regards the colouring of the 

 upper parts and the black abdomen, but differing in the colour of 

 the head and chest ; wings and tail also similar to those of the male. 

 The differences in the colour of the head are as follows : — The crown 

 is dark brown, with large spots of sandy rufous ; the occipital region 

 ashy, freckled with lines of black ; lores and a broad eyebrow 

 isabelline buff, the feathers edged with black ; below the eye a baud 

 of sandy rufous, the feathers margined with black : ear-coverts 

 sandy buff ; cheeks and throat white, but with no mesial band of 

 black on the latter; neck, fore neck, and chest brown, mottled with 

 sandy-buff spots and markings and varied with a few cross lines of 

 black ; across the chest a broad band of white ; axillaries black ; 

 under wing-coverts white barred with black or black tipped with 

 white : " bill yellowish on the basal portion ; lower mandible pale 

 ashy at tip, upper mandible dark brown ; tarsi and feet yellowish 

 white ; iris light tawny hazel " ( T. Ayres). Total length 16 inches, 

 culmen 1-35, wing 10-2, tail 4-6, tarsus 3. 



The rufous crest of the male is exactly of the same tint as the 

 vinous-coloured bases of the feathers, which form so peculiar a 

 characteristic in this and all other Bustards. This colour fades in 

 time, and I find that the crest of the present species is affected by 

 exposure to the light. Thus the type of E. ruficrista, having been 

 exposed in the Gallery of the Museum for forty years, has lost all 

 trace of a rufous crest, this having become bleached white. 



Hah. South Africa. 



a. S imm. sk. South Africa. Old Coll. 



b. 5 ad. St. South Africa. Sir A. Smith [C.]. 



c. (S ad. sk. South Africa. Sir A. Smith [C."!. 



(Tvpe of species.) 

 (7. cJad. sk. Transvaal, .Tulv 6 (r. .B. 5mc^- Shelley Coll. 



/e;/). 



e. (S ad. sk. Limpopo River, Transvaal, Gurney Coll. 



July 20 (T. Ayres). 



f, g. 6 2 ad. Rustenberg, East Transvaal, Guniev Coll. 

 sk. 3a\y2^ {T. Ayres). 



h. ^ ad. sk. Beiiguela. Monteiro Coll. 



2. Lophotis gindiana. 



Eupodotis gindiana, Oust. Bull. Soc. rhilom. 1881, p. 163 (Somali- 

 land). 



Otis (Lophoris) fulvicrista, Cab. Orn. Cetitrcdbl. 1882, p. 14; Reichen. 

 ^- Schalow, J.f. 0. 1882, p. 113. 



