218 



corpore subtus sordide et pallide ochraceo : plumis elongatis in gutture imo indistincte fumoso notatis : 

 hypochondriis brunnescenti-cinereis : pedibus pallide viridi-flavis : rostro flavido brunneo immixto : 

 iride flava. 



Adult (Seville). Crown and nape black witb a blue-grey tinge, nucbal feathers much elongated, forming a 

 crest when elevated, two much longer than the rest, measuring fully 5 inches in length; chin and 

 upper throat white, gradually becoming rusty red on the neck ; sides of the head pale rusty ; a black 

 line passes down the hind neck, and one on each side of the neck from the gape ; lower neck in front 

 covered with a large bunch of elongated pointed feathers, nearly pure white in colour, and marked with 

 long black stripes, the front of the neck above this bunch being also striped ; lower part of the hind 

 neck, back, and rump deep ashy blue or plumbeous, with a slight metallic greenish tinge on the back 

 when held in a strong light; quills and tail deep ashy plumbeous, the inner webs of the primaries 

 blackish; wing- coverts like the back, but duller, and with a brownish tinge; many of the dorsal 

 feathers and the scapulars elongated and filamentous, the former ashy blue, the latter ashy blue inter- 

 mixed with pale rusty red ; breast rich maroon-red, marked with black in the centre ; flanks ashy grey, 

 thighs reddish buff; under wing-coverts pale chestnut, centre of abdomen black ; uuder tail-coverts 

 blackish, intermixed with white ; bill yellow, darker on the upper ridge and at the base ; bare skin 

 round the eye greenish yellow; iris rich yellow; legs dark greenish grey, reddish at the tibial joint, 

 claws blackish horn. Total length about 30-32 inches, culmen 5 - l, gape 6 - 3, wing 14"0, tail 5 - 0, 

 tarsus 5 - 0, middle toe 5 - 0, middle claw 1*15. 



Young of the year (Butrinto, Albania, October). Crown and nape dark rusty reddish, with a few black 

 markings on the forehead; chin white; rest of the neck and throat pale yellowish rusty, slightly 

 striped with black on the fore neck ; upper parts generally greyish brown, all the feathers with very 

 broad yellowish rusty margins ; quills and tail blackish with a grey tinge, the inner secondaries mar- 

 gined with rusty ; underparts dull ochreous white, the somewhat elongated feathers on the breast with 

 washed-out brownish stripes ; flanks brownish ashy grey ; legs pale yellowish green ; bill yellowish, 

 becoming brownish at the tip and along the edge of the culmen ; iris yellow. 



Obs. The full plumage is only assumed after the second moult, when the bird is three years old. The 

 above-described bird from Butrinto is a young bird of the year ; but a second, older specimen, evidently 

 a bird in its second year, also from Albania, has the crown black ; the elongated nuchal feathers have 

 already appeared, but are not so long as in the adult; the upper parts are much darker, and the 

 margins have nearly disappeared; the long narrow feathers on the back are appearing, but are dark 

 brown intermixed with rusty; the neck is more striped with black, the underparts darker, and the 

 bunch of long pointed feathers on the breast is also to some extent developed. 



Nestling {fide H. Saunders, Ibis, 1871, p. 390). Skin and feet yellowish green, yellow on the abdomen; 

 upper mandible greenish horn-colour, lower mandible yellow ; iris pale straw-yellow ; feathers reddish 

 brown ; hairy crest ; shafts of feathers lead-blue, all edged with white down, whitest on the abdomen • 

 claws horn-white. 



In Europe proper the present species inhabits the southern and central districts, being somewhat 

 rare in the latter. It is found in Africa as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, and in Asia as 

 far east as China and as far south as the Philippines. 



In Great Britain it is a tolerably rare straggler, but has been met with in most of the 

 southern counties of England. Yarrell records instances of its occurrence in Cornwall and 



