200 



BR. P. CHALMERS MITCHELL ON [Nov. 15 



3. On the Species of Crowned Cranes. By P. Chalmers 

 Mitchell, M.A., D.Sc, Secretary to the Society. 



[Received November 15, 1904.] 



(Text-figures 37-40.) 



[The complete account of the new species described in this communication 

 appears here; but since the name and preliminary diagnosis were publi.shed in 

 the 'Abstract,' the new species is distinguished bj- the name beins underlined.— 

 Editor.] 



I have had the good fortune to see no less than fifteen living 

 examples of the Crowned Crane in the course of this year, and 

 the obvious diflferences between two types heretofore included 

 under the name Balearica pavonina led me to examine the 

 literature on the subject and the skins in the National Museum, 

 as well as some shown me by private friends, with the result that 

 I believe I am able to make a slight addition to our knowledge of 

 these beautiful birds. 



The two major species of this group were figured by Geoi^ge 

 Edwards, the " Library- Keeper " to the Royal College of Physi- 

 cians, in his ' Natural History of Birds ' (vol. iv. p. 192), pubHshed 

 in 1751. They were not definitely named but described as the 

 " Crowned African Ci^anes " : the figure in the foreground, which 

 he supposed to be that of the male of a pair, is a good representation 

 of the Cape Crowned Crane ; while the other figure, designated 

 the female by Edwards, is an excellent figure of a West- African 

 Crowned Crane. The latter figure shows the darker coloration 

 of the neck and back, and the division of the bare cheek-area into 

 nearly equal white upper and pink lower half characteristic of the 

 West- African form ; while the other figure shows the grey 

 coloration of the upper part of the body and the very large 

 pendent neck-wattle equally characteristic of the Cape form. It 

 will be more convenient to group my subsequent remarks under 

 the names of the species. 



Balearica regulonmi (Benn.). The Cape Crowned Crane. — I 

 follow Reichenow (Die Ybgel Afrikas, vol. i. p. 265) in using this 

 name instead of B. chrysopelargus of the B.M. Catalogue. The 

 latter name depends on Lichtenstein's ' Catalogus Rerum Natu- 

 ralium Rarissimarum,' but the specimens on which Lichtenstein 

 founded his descriptions are not known, and the description of 

 Ardea chrysopelargtis is far too vague to be applied with certainty 

 to this or any other Crowned Crane. I have seen four living 

 examples (of these, three are at present in the Gardens at Regent's 

 Park) and a number of skins. The feathers of the neck and back 

 are silvery grey. The most striking distinctive characters of the 

 four species, however, are to be found in the heads, of which I 

 give outline figures. The large, bare cheek-patch (text-fig. 37, 

 p. 202) is divided into a small, upper, roughly triangular area which 

 is bright red in colour ; the lower part of the patch, which usually 



