286 MR. R. SWINHOE ON THE SUPPOSED [Nov. 25, 
a bar of rich chestnut near the tip of all the feathers of the flanks ; 
thighs ciunamon-brown; bill and legs blackish brown. 
Total length, 9} inches ; bill, 1 ; wing, 54; tail, 4; tarsi, 12. 
Female similarly coloured. 
The young, at about a month old, have acquired much of the 
colouring of the adults, but the centre feathers of the back and 
shoulders are darker, with lighter edges, giving this part of the 
plumage a very sparkling appearance. 
NuMENIUS RUFESCENS, Gould. 
Head, neck, upper and under surface reddish fawn-colour, deepest 
and most conspicuous on the rump and tail-feathers; down the 
centre of each of the feathers is a streak of blackish brown, broadest 
and most conspicuous on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; 
primaries blackish brown, strongly toothed on their inner margins 
with greyish white; tail-feathers irregularly crossed with blackish 
brown ; thighs light buff. 
Total length, 23 inches ; bill, 7; wing, 121; tail, 33; tarsi, 5. 
This is a very fine species, about the size of Numenius arcuatus and 
N. australis, from the former of which it differs in the absence of 
the white rump, and from the latter in its rufous colouring. 
10. On A BirnD SUPPOSED TO BE THE FEMALE OF CROSSOPTILON 
AURITUM, PALLAS, FROM NorTHERN CuHinA. By ROBERT 
Swinuog, F.Z.S., H.M. Consuu at Formosa. 
My friend Dr. Lamprey, of the 97th Regiment, stationed at Tsin- 
tsin, sent me, while I was at Amoy, the bird I now exhibit, in skin, with 
the statement that he had seen several of the same species, all of which 
were similar in plumage. My specimen I have taken to the British 
Museum, and compared, with the kind assistance of Mr. G. R. Gray, 
with Hodgson’s bird from the Himalayas. That they are closely 
allied species there can be no gainsaying; but of their distinctness 
there can be little doubt. ®Our bird is much larger, has longer tarsi, 
bill higher at the base, white throat, with longer ear-feathers, deep 
brown plumage, and a differently shaped tail. From the develop- 
ment of its cheek-skin, its form of bill, as well as the appearance of 
its plumage, it bears the mark of an old bird; and from the shape of 
its tail one would infer that it was a male. But, on examining its 
legs, we find no spur, only a hard callosity, such as distinguish the 
females of the Phasianide. I am rather inclined, therefore, to 
concur with Mr. G. R. Gray in considering the bird a female, but 
the masculine form of tail is rather a difficulty. In comparing it 
with the specimen of Crossoptilon in the Museum, it is, however, 
easy to see that the tail of the Peking bird is proportionately smaller, 
and, judging from analogy, it is rather improbable that the mature 
male would wear such a dingy livery. Now, supposing this bird to 
be a female, we have no hesitation in saying that it is not the female 
of the Crossoptilon from Thibet; we must, therefore, compare it 
