54 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on the Genus Platalea. 



Char. — c? (?) and ? nearly fully adult. Naked skin of 

 forehead and throat deep black ; bill the same. A 

 yellow patch at the back of the forehead and under each 

 eye. The plumes of the forehead do not advance to the 

 posterior margin of the eye, and are I'O distant from the 

 base of the culmen. The naked throat extends 1*5 

 beyond the angle of the mouth, and is slightly W-shaped 

 posteriorly. End of the spatule rounded. Primaries 

 with black tips. 



The table on p. 53 shows the measurements of the three 

 known specimens. 



Platalea minor, Temm. & Schl. (Plate I. figs. 3, 3a, & 6, 

 and woodcut, fig. 2, p. 39.) 



That this species is absolutely distinct both from P. major 

 and from P. mekmorhyncha is beyond all doubt; and as 

 Dr. Stejneger has already thoroughly argued out the question 

 and established its distinguishing characters, I shall only add 

 a few remarks about the different specimens I have examined. 

 Before I had read Mr. Stejneger's conclusions the British 

 Museum had received Mr. Seebohm's collection, including 

 those of Mr. Swinhoe^s specimens from Formosa, viz. " Nos. 1, 

 3, and 4^," mentioned in ' The Ibis ' for 1864, and I had also de- 

 cided that " No. 1 " could not have been paired with "No. 2'* 

 although shot on the same date, as the former is an imma- 

 ture female of P. major, while the latter, which has since 

 been forwarded to me through the kindness of Canon Tris- 

 tram, is an immature male of P. minor, and in most respects 

 similar to No. 3 and to the type in Leyden, though possibly 

 rather older. This specimen in Canon Tristram's collection 

 is labelled as "China; J. Verreaux'^; but the make of the 

 skin is precisely the same as Mr. Swinhoe's other speci- 

 mens, and the measurements and all details agree exactly 

 with his description of his ''No. 2." 



It is difficult to understand how Mr. Seebohm, having the 

 above-mentioned specimens in his possession, could have fallen 

 into the mistake of considering them as immature birds of 

 the Australian species, and a glance at Plate I., in which the 

 head of the fully adult and crested male (No. 4) is figured 



