304 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



within gunshot ; but may always be got with a rifle. It goes in pairs, 

 6 and p , the latter being considerably the smallest. It becomes 

 very tame when in confinement, and feeds readily from the hand, 

 eating bread, fruit, vegetables, &c. Its harsh, rattling, guttural cry 

 may be heard at an immense distance. In a state of nature it feeds on 

 fish, reptiles, locusts, and small mammalia, and is often found perma- 

 nently inhabiting the Karroo country at a great distance from water. 



Mr. Arnot has forwarded eggs from Colesberg, and informs me it 

 breeds in that neighbourhood in some abundance. The eggs resemble 

 those of Gr. Carunculata in every particular. 



Genus BALEARICA, Brisson. 



Bill shorter than the head, strong, thick, the basal half of 

 the culmen flattened, and the apical half slightly arched and 

 gibbose, the sides compressed, the gonys of the tipper mandi- 

 ble short, and advancing upwards ; the nostrils placed in a 

 broad basal groove, which reaches to the middle of the bill, 

 with opening anterior, large and oval ; wings lengthened, 

 with the third quill the longest, and the tertials broad, reach- 

 ing to the end of the tail ; tail short and even ; tarsi 

 lengthened, slender, and covered in front with transverse 

 scales, and posteriorly with small subquadrate scales ; toes 

 moderate, slender, and covered above with transverse scales ; 

 the lateral toes unequal, and the hind toe very short and 

 elevated ; the cheeks naked ; the base of the bill and the 

 throat beneath wattled. 



575, Balearica Regulorum. (Licht.) Cat. Dupt. 



Berl. Mus., 1793; Grus Balearica, PI. Enl. 265; 

 Croivned-Crane ; and Kafir-Crane of Colonists. 



UPPER parts, leaden- grey ; lightest on the hackle- shaped 

 feathers of the throat ; top of the head, velvety black ; chin 

 black ; back of head ornamented with a curious tuft of wiry 

 bristles, radiating from an elongated centre, each bristle 

 about 3|" long, flat, and twisted throughout its entire length, 

 one side being white, the other yellow, thus causing the 

 bristle to appear ringed with white and yellow ; tip black ; 

 beneath and behind the eye, and below the black of the chin, 

 a bare red spot ; outer feathers of wing white, the inner red ; 

 and covering them, when the wing is closed, are some 

 elongated, decomposed yellow plumes ; tail black ; under 

 parts leaden-grey. Length, 3' 8" ; wing, V 9" ; tail, 1'. 



The "Crowned" or "Kafir-Crane" is more common in the eastern 

 frontier of the colony, than about the western extremity, perhaps 

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



