484 Mr. G. L. Bates on the 
have no black vent-feathers, and the underparts are 
white. 
No. 3747 was brought in alive, having been caught in a 
clearing near a stream. 
Podica JACOBI. 
Reichenow, J. f. O. 1906, p. 325 ; Bates, Ibis, 1909, p. 8. 
No. 4179. $ (small ova in ovary). Bitye, April 1910. 
This specimen has the wing 150 mm. long, the tail 
120 mm., the bill 38 mm. Thus it agrees in size with the 
description of P. jacohi. The specimens sent in previous 
years ( cf . 1 Ibis/ /. c.), even the females, were much larger, 
though still much smaller than examples of P. senegalensis. 
As I can see no other difference except that of size between 
the present specimens and those previously sent, I conclude 
that they are all referable to P. jacohi , and that the species 
has a w-ide range of variation in size. It may be that these 
birds continue to grow after they reach maturity, a con¬ 
jecture supported by the fact that the two largest female 
birds have black heads. As in P. senegalensis , this 
character is the mark of the fully adult bird; but in the 
Senegal form it is accompanied by the characteristic grey 
throat and white line on each side ; in P. jacohi the whole 
throat is always white, even in the old black-headed birds. 
All female specimens, even the oldest, have the white 
plumage of the breast mottled with dark brown. 
The present example (No. 4179) was brought to me alive 
by a woman who had found it caught in a basket-trap placed 
in a stream to catch fish. When held in the hand it trembled 
and uttered a low guttural growl ending in a faint squawk. 
Theristicus rarus. 
Reichenow, Y. A. iii. p. 804 ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1907, p. 423. 
No. 3103. ? ad. Length of bill to hinder angle of nostril 
112 mm. 
No. 4271. ? juv. Length of bill to hinder angle of nostril 
68 mm. 
Both were shot at Bitye, R. Ja. 
There is no doubt about the distinctness of this species 
