18 W. E. Brooks — Description of a new Flamingo. [Jan, 



be easilyjtnown : the white feathers of the head and neck when turned back 

 are found to have the basal and larger portion of a grey colour ; but in P. 

 antiquorum, the adults have these feathers white to their very bases : this 

 forms another very good distinction between tho two species : the bill is very 

 similar in both but, being somewhat the larger of the two, P. Andersoni has 

 a proportionately larger one ; the chin feathers, however, advance towards 

 the lower mandible in a much more obtuse angle • the legs and feet are duller 

 and paler. 



Length of a male, 50 in. wing 16*9 ; tarsus 14*75 ; bare portion of tibia 

 10 in. ; of a female, length 43 in. ; wing 15 in. ; tarsus 11'75 in. ; bare por- 

 tion of tibia 8 in. 



Dimensions of P. antiquorum (male), wing 16'5 ; tarsus 1275 ; bare 

 portion of tibia 10 - 25 • female, length 40 • wing 14 • tarsus 1025 ■ bare por- 

 tion of tibia 7"5 in. 



Two or three years ago, I sent examples of each of these birds to Eng- 

 land, and the conclusion arrived at by some of the best authorities there 

 was, that they were One and the same bird ; the more rosy one being a more 

 advanced stage of the paler. But from the number of each which I have ex- 

 amined, I have full confidence that P. Andersoni will never put on the full 

 rosy plumage of P. antiquorum. That the species will be attacked, and 

 weighty names brought to bear against it, 1 do not doubt ; but a satisfac- 

 tory test of the correctness of my conclusion as to the validity of the two 

 species is only to be attained, I submit, by careful observation of an indivi- 

 dual of each during its passage through all its stages in confinement. Apart 

 from the prominent distinctions already pointed out, the colour of the pri- 

 mary quills cannot be so much affected by age in any one species as to present 

 so great a difference as that which exists between the two under consideration. 

 There is another point which I should mention. Blyth appears to have given 

 the name of P. antiquus to an Indian flamingo ; but whether this was to the 

 well known species or to another, I have no means of finding out. Evidence 

 may eventually be forthcoming to clear this point up, when P. Andersoni 

 may become a synonym of P. antiquus ; but in the meantime, I have thought 

 it most convenient to define the unnamed bird so long confounded with P. 

 antiquorum. 



The immature of each is very distinct, but detailed descriptions would 

 make this paper tedious. 



4. Description of four new species belonging to the family Stenopidce 

 from the M. E. Frontier of Bengal, with drawing of Selicarion gigas, Ben- 

 son and a variety of the same. — By Major H. H„ Godwin-Austen, F. R. G-. S., 

 F. Z. S. 



The paper will be published in the Journal Part II, 1875. 



