236 Mr. C. H. B. Grant on a Collection of 



'• Tabula XXVIII. 



Fig. A. Faico serpentarius, Lin. Syst. Nat. Classis ii. 

 Ordo i. Genus xliv. Spec. 1. Habitat^ Cap. B. Spei. 

 Fig. B. Caput magnitudine naturali.^' 

 The plate itself is not superscribed with the name as 

 is the one in the ' Cimelia Physica/ published by the same 

 author in 1796, but it bears at tlie bottom the following: 

 '•Painted, Engraved and Published according to the Act 

 1779 by John Frederick Miller." 



a. c? ad. Baringo, 4000 ft. Dec. 28. 

 Total length in flesh : 53| inches. Wing : 670 mm. 

 In good plumage and still moulting. 



The dozen specimens before me show but slight variation 

 throughout south and east Africa. 



In the National collection the typical form is represented 

 by a bird from Deelfontein, others from Orange River 

 Colony, Transvaal, and Mashonaland being similar. Birds 

 from Masailand, British East Africa, and Abyssinia are 

 very slightly lighter and whiter below, but are hardly 

 distinguishable from specimens from the Transvaal. 



These have been named S. s. orientalis Verr. (P. Z.S. 

 1856, p. 348 : East Africa), but I cannot see sufficient 

 evidence for their separation from the South African form. 

 In the J. f. O. 1904, a plate is given of the two forms, and 

 great emphasis is laid on the extent of the bare skin around 

 che eyes; this is found, to be of no consequence when speci- 

 mens are compared. 



Two specimens in the Museum from the Sudan which died 

 in the Zoological Gardens have the crest-feathers broader 

 and longer, and the back and wing-coverts are intermingled 

 with darker feathers ; these characters may, however, be due 

 to captivity, so no reliance can be placed on them. These 

 specimens have been named S. ganihiensis Ogilby (P. Z. S. 

 1835, pp. 104 & 105 : Senegambia), but they may not have 

 been compared with Gambian birds. 



[Irides brown, bare skin orange, above eye red ; bill light 

 bluish horn : legs and toes flesh-colour. Contents of stomach 



