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 cinnamon-brown ; bill and legs blackish brown. 



Total length, 9^ inches ; bill, 1 ; wing, 5^ ; tail, 4 ; tarsi, 1|. 



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, 12^; tail, 3| ; 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 Bird supposed to be the Female of Crossoptilon 



AURTTUM, PaeLAS, FROM NORTHERN ChINA. By RoBERT 



SwiNHOE, F.Z.S., H.M. Consul at Formosa. 



My friend Dr. Lamprey, of the 97th Regiment, stationed atTsin- 

 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 Phasianidcs. 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 



