140



George Jennison,



page, and the brevier type from our correspondence column. Only

by drastic economy has it been possible to keep the flag flying:

indeed, there are many natural history journals that have failed to

survive the War.


Under these circumstances we believe that Mr. Workman’s

letter will be of the greatest service to zoology. Should the Foreign

Bird Club wish to be reabsorbed into the Avicultural Society—the

parent from which it originally sprung—a great gain, not only to

aviculture, but to ornithology in general, would inevitably ensue.


G. R.



COLOUR DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDIAN

WOOD-STORK.


By George Jennison, M.A.


[Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1914.]


On June 2, 1908, a specimen of Pseudotantalus leucocephalus ,

which I judged to be six months old, came to Belle Vue Gardens

with other stock. It was at that time not more than half its present

weight. The beak was straight and rather slender, pale yellow in

colour. The pinions were of a dull black, the rest of the plumage

a yellowish-white. The bird ate fish freely, and has not had a day’s

illness or check of any kind, so we may assume its subsequent

development normal. The first change was noted in February, 1909,

when the feathers on the larger wing-coverts were slightly tinged

with pink. During the next three years, that is until the spring

of 1912, there was a continual change of the yellowish to ever

whiter body-feathers, for the moult is extremely gradual and the new

plumes make quite a checkered pattern with the old : the dull black

of the pinions and tail took on a lustrous greenish tinge, and the bare

skin of the head became red where it meets the feathers of the neck.


These changes might pass unnoticed by the casual observer,

but in January, 1912, a drastic alteration supervened which could

not fail to attract attention. The white feathers of the smaller and

median wing-coverts of the chest and underparts of the wings were



