A wounded bittern is most dangerous to approach, as it will strike with unerring aim at the eye of the gunner who approaches to seize it; and the formidable beak is likewise employed, and generally with success, to repel the attack of any fox bold enough to approach its owner. It should be added that during the hot summer of 1911 a pair of bitterns bred in the old Norfolk haunts of the species. THE KAFIR CROWNED CRANE (_Balearica chrysopelargus_) The crowned cranes of Africa, of which there are three species, constituting by themselves an exclusively African genus, are some of the handsomest members of a beautiful and stately group of birds; the fan-like array of bristly feathers on the head, which constitutes the so-called “crown,” conferring on these cranes a regal appearance which is lacking in their smooth-headed relatives. Of the three species, one (_Balearica pavonina_) is a native of north-eastern Africa, ranging southwards into West and Equatorial Africa; the second, forming the subject of the accompanying Plate and sometimes known as _B. regulorum_ instead of by the designation here used, is a southern bird, ranging from the Cape to the Zambesi and Loanza valleys; while the third (_B. gibbericeps_) hails from East Africa. As regards the distinctive features of these three cranes, the northern species is greenish black above and dark grey below, with most of the feathers of the sharply pointed lanceolate type; the neck is delicate pearl-grey; the secondary quills are chestnut, and the wing-coverts partly white and yellow; the twisted bristly feathers forming the crown are yellow and white with black tips; a bare area on each side of the face is white above and pink below; and black down clothes the throat. This species has a very small wattle on the throat; but in the Kafir crane this wattle, as shown in the Plate, is much larger and mainly red in colour. The southern species is further characterised by the greyer tone of the plumage of the upper-parts, and the white cheek-patch, with only a margin of crimson above. In the East African _B. gibbericeps_ this cheek-patch becomes much larger than in either of the other two species, extending backwards nearly to the nape of the neck.