Balearica regulorum. 17 



darkest on the scapularies ; and the very nude cheek patch is white, narrowly 

 bordered with crimson towards the crest. In the male the crimson is barely 

 indicated, but it is well shown in the females, and in the latter, the white is 

 sometimes also irregularly blotched with red. The pendulous throat-lappet 

 hangs down fully three inches in the male, being not much shorter in the 

 female, and is red, becoming bright crimson when the bird is in breeding 

 condition, its basal fourth being black and continuously so with a ring 

 encircling the cheek-patch. The length of this bird is about 3|ft. ; closed 

 wing, Ifft. ; and tail 1ft.; spread of wings more than 6ft. (Chapman). 



This very handsome crowned crane inhabits the South of Africa, and for 

 the feathered denizens of that part of the world our chief authority is Mr. 

 E. L. Layard's " Birds of South Africa," supplemented by the notes of Mr. 

 T. Ayres contributed to the Ibis through Mr. J. H. Gurney, and by those 

 of the late Mr. C. J. Andersson^ which have been published in a collected 

 form by Mr. Gurney, as " Notes on the Birds of Damaraland." 



Mr. Layard remarks that in the Cape Colony this species " is more 

 common in the eastern frontier than about the western extremity, perhaps 

 owing to the latter being more settled and cultivated, as it is found in con- 

 siderable numbers to the north and north-west. It has never fallen under 

 my notice in its wild state." Mr. Andersson states that he had never 

 observed it in Great Namaqua or Damara Land ; " but I have met with it," 

 he adds, "at Lake Ngami, and also on the rivers Botletlo, Teoughe, 

 Okavango. In Ondonga it is very common during the dry season, but 

 leaves the open plain when the wet season returns. It is met with singly or 

 in pairs, and sometimes in small flocks, and presents a very graceful appear- 

 ance as it stalks leisurely about in search of its food, which consists of 

 various insects, of the smaller reptiles, and, it is said, of fish also. The 

 yellow bristles of this crane are used by the inhabitants of Ovampo Land as 

 ornaments for their heads." Mr. Ayres, in his " Notes on the Birds of the 

 Territory of the Trans- Vaal Republic," remarks that " these handsome 

 cranes are generally, though sparsely, distributed over the country, and 

 have much the same habits as the Stanley" (or paradise) "cranes, with 

 which they occasionally associate, as flocks of each may be seen feeding 

 together on the banks of the Vaal river below BloemhoS":" {Ibis, 1871, 

 p. 204.) No one of the three South African species of crane has been met 

 with north of the equator, and how far towards the equinoctial region 

 the geographical range of each extends we seem to have yet to learn. 

 Dr. Kirk, however, informs us that the present species is " found on the 

 Zambesi and Shire at all seasons ; also on Lake Nyassa. It is seen in 

 flocks in the interior ; but near the coast more commonly in small 

 numbers :" {Ibis, 1864, p. 331.) 



By Mr. Layard we are told that "a magnificent egg of this species, 

 in the South African Museum [Cape Town] is of a dull pale brown tinged with 



D 



