194 



It measured : Length, 34 in. ; wing from flexure, 17*5 in. ; culmen, 4*5 in. ; bill, from 

 angle of mouth to tip of lower mandible, 5*6 in. ; tail, 6'5 in. 



The following 'Crane story,' which illustrates their marvellous power of wing, seems worthy 

 of being placed on permanent record, being a cutting from the Daily Mail, whose Cairo correspon- 

 dent writes : — 



While Sir Budolf Slatin was engaged with some other officials of the Egyptian Army a day or two ago, 

 an official of the War Office came into the room and handed to him a small metal case resembling a revolver 

 cartridge attached to a ring, which had been found among the Khalifa's effects brought down from Omdurman. 

 The ex-prisoner of the Khalifa was visibly touched at the sight of an object he had last seen under circum- 

 stances of an exciting and dramatic nature. The case contained a paper on which was written in French, 

 English, and German, ' This Crane has been bred and brought up on my estate at Ascania Nova, in the 

 province of Tauride, in South Kussia. Whoever catches or kills this bird is requested to communicate with 

 me, and inform me where it occurred.— F. E. Falzfein. September, 1892.' 



The story of the Eussian Crane is familiar to readers of Sir Eudolf Slatin s book. The Khalifa sent for 

 his prisoner one morning and, placing a metal case in his hands, suspiciously asked him to open it and see what 

 it contained. Slatin did so, read the paper enclosed, and replied that the case had evidently been fastened to 

 the neck of a Crane, which had been killed. 'You have spoken the truth,' said the Khalifa more amiably; 

 ' the bird was killed by a Shaifa near Dongola, and the cartridge case was found attached to its neck.' When 

 Sir Eudolf read him the contents of the paper the Khalifa cried out forcibly : ' This is one of the many devices 

 of those unbelievers who waste their time in such useless nonsense. A Mahomedan would never have 

 attempted to do such a thing.' The case and its contents were taken from the prisoner, to be thus returned to 

 him in time as a memento of the days of his cruel captivity. 



Order ARDEIFORMES.] 



[Family ARDEIDiE. 



HEEODIAS TIMOKIENSIS. 



(EASTERN GREAT WHITE HERON.) 



Ardea egretta, Gmelin; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 12$. 

 Ardea timoriensis, Lesson, Traite, p. 576 (1831). 



Maori names: Kotukutuku, syn. with Kotuku. 



After much difference of opinion and contention, the specific name to be borne by this bird 

 (one of onr rare forms, but numerous enough elsewhere) has been, I think, finally settled. 

 Our bird is thus distinguished by Dr. Sharpe in the ' Catalogue of Birds,' vol. xxvi.: — 



Ad. — Similar to H. alba, but with the bill yellow in summer and winter ; the train of dorsal plumes not 

 very long, and scarcely reaching beyond the tail ; bill beautiful orange ; naked space before and behind the eye 

 fine greenish yellow ; legs above the knee pale dull yellow, this colour continued down the centre of the inner 

 part of the tarsi ; remainder of tarsi and feet black.* 



* I examined the type of Ardea syrmatophora in Mr. Gould's collection at Philadelphia, presented by Dr. T. B. 

 Wilson to the Academy of Sciences. This bird has a yellow bill with a brownish-black tip, the colour extending upwards 

 for about an inch and a half, and there are abundant dorsal plumes. 



There is another example from Australia in the same collection in which the bill is entirely yellow, whilst, on the 

 other hand, it possesses no dorsal plumes. 





