288 OTID^ OTIS 



all give somewhat similar accounts. Mr. Layard, who originally 

 described the egg of this bird, which he received from Mr. Arnot 

 from Mahura's country in Bechuanaland, stated that it was a pale 

 dull brown tinged with green with a few confused reddish-brown 

 blotches. This egg is still preserved in the South African Museum, 

 and is now a very pale greenish-grey colour, while the blotches 

 described by Layard appear as if they might be accidental. It 

 measures 35 x 2-5. 



Major Sparrow, who has taken the eggs of this species near 

 Mooi Eiver, in Natal, in May, tells me that these, when first laid, 

 are bluish-white, but become greenish and tinged with brown after 

 a few days, owing to the damp weeds in the nest. 



The Crowned Crane is often kept in captivity. It becomes very 

 tame and grows to be very much attached to its owner and its home. 

 It may safely be trusted with its liberty, as, though it may take an 

 occasional flight around the grounds, it will never travel very far. 

 It is a good bird to keep in a garden, as it spends most of its time 

 searching for insects and grubs. 



Family II. OTID^]. 



The Bustards form a very distinct family, characterised by their 

 short bills, upright carriage and three-toed feet. They have from 

 sixteen to twenty tail-feathers and eleven primaries ; the tarsus and 

 bare portion of the tibia are covered with small scales ; the toes are 

 short, stout and scutellated above, the claws short and blunt. 



The following are the anatomical characteristics of the family : 

 Skull schizognathous and holorhinal ; no basipterygoid processes ; 

 sternum with two posterior notches ; aftershaft present ; fifth 

 cubital remex absent ; caeca present ; oil-gland absent ; the femo- 

 rocaudal muscle absent, the other four Garrodian muscles present. 



Genus I. OTIS. 



Type. 

 Otis, Brisson, Orn. v, p. 18 (1760) 0. tarda. 



The characteristics of the family given above include those of 

 the only genus of African Bustards here recognised. 



Eeichenow includes in his work twenty-one African species, 

 eleven of which are met with in South Africa. 



