VISITING THE “ EASTERN NARRA.” 505 
with Jerdon’s description, some answer to P. onocrotalus, 
others to P. mitratus, and others again to javanicus. One extra- 
ordinary circumstance is that out of over 80 specimens I only 
shot nine females, four of which I preserved, so that my 
series of skins of the female is deficient, inasmuch as I have 
been unable to come across a specimen intermediate between 
the full adult and the young female. But the series of the 
male birds’ skins speak for themselves, the changes of plumage 
and colors of the soft parts being very easily followed from 
the young bird of the year right up to the old adult in full 
breeding plumage. I will now endeavour to the best of my 
ability to describe these changes, first roughly, and then in 
detail. 
There are, I make out, three distinct stages of plumage, viz., 
those of the first, second and third years, and as the changes in 
both sexes are identical, the following description will auswer 
equally for both -— 
The young birds, when they first arrive, are of a plain white 
color, with their scapulars and wing-coverts of a dirty pale 
brown ; they have nocrest, but the feathers of the nape and 
neck form a sort of a hog mane; the tail a!so has a few brown 
feathers. The orbital region, bill and legs are of a leaden grey 
color, the bill and legs being slightly the darker, especially 
the latter ; the irides ar2 of a light brown, almost hazel; pouch 
greyish yellow. The plumage of the scapulars and wing-coverts 
aad tail gradually change to a pure white;an incipient crest 
of soft white curly feathers begins to appear, and on the upper 
part of the breast a few sharp-pointed stiff feathers of a dirty 
China white can be discerned ; the winglet and primaries, which 
in the young bird were of the same dirty brown color as 
the scapulars and wing-coverts, are now deep brown, almost 
black ; the irides are hazel, with a slighily reddish tinge ; 
the orbital region becomes of a purplish white ; the bill 
changes to a yellow with a few red streaks in it, the mid-rib 
and base of upper and lower mandibles being of a dull leaden; 
grey ; the nail from a dusky yellow in the young bird becomes 
a light red ; the pouch gets more yellow, and the legs and toes 
are gradually changing this leaden grey color for a greyish 
yellow ; the portion of leg above knee is now of a pale lemon 
yellow; the mid-rib, which in the young bird is slightly 
concave and level with the rest of the bill, is now slightly 
raised. 
Finally the pure white plumage turns into a lovely delicate 
pale rose color, getting deeper as the bird gets older (this 
color fades slightly in the course of time from the preserved 
skin). The crest is fully 3” to 4” long, the feathers being straight 
and soft, with a pale pink tinge; the winglet also gets white 
