Part 68

147. BUTORIDES SPODIOGASTER Sharpe.

NICOBAR GREEN HERON.

Butorides spodiogaster Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1894), 3, 17; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 182, pl. 2; Hand-List (1899), 1, 200; Mearns, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 353.

Palawan (Mearns). Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"Adult.--Similar to B. javanica, but darker gray on the under surface, which is of a sooty-slate color with a slight tinge of rusty on the abdomen, cheeks and ear-coverts uniform slate-color. It much resembles B. stagnatilis, especially the birds from Flores, but it is not so dingy underneath and has a less shade of rusty on the abdomen. 'Bill black, lower portion of lower mandible, from base to tip, edged pale horny; front of tarsus, toes, and claws brownish green, bare portion of tibia and back of tarsus dirty greenish yellow; naked skin round eye dull green, tinged with yellow in front; eyelids deep green.' (Hume.) Length, 445; culmen, 60; wing, 193; tail, 53; tarsus, 43." (Sharpe.)

This species differs from both B. javanica and amurensis in its much darker color, particularly of the under parts which are nearly uniform slate-gray; the white of chin and throat is much restricted and on the fore breast is reduced to a few shaft-lines; all of the wing-coverts are edged with dull rusty buff. The specimen collected by Mearns near Palawan measures: Wing, 165; tail, 58; culmen from frontal feathers, 60; tarsus, 47; middle toe with claw, 50.

Genus BUBULCUS Bonaparte, 1854.

Non-breeding plumage all white; legs and nails black; primaries and secondaries about equal in length; exposed culmen less than middle toe with claw, the latter less than tarsus.

148. BUBULCUS COROMANDUS (Boddaert).

INDIAN CATTLE EGRET.

Cancroma coromanda Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Eul. (1783), 54. Bubulcus coromandus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 217; Hand-List (1899), 1, 202; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 130, pl. 5, fig. 2; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 389, fig. 92 (head); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 35; McGregor, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 322.

Ta-gac' cal-a-bau, Manila; la-guac', Calayan; tá-bon, Bohol.

Balabac (Steere Exp., Everett); Basilan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Calayan (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Jagor, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Steere Exp., Goodfellow); Mindoro (McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Steere, Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Celestino); Sulu (Platen); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Eastern Siberia, Korea, China, Indian Peninsula, Ceylon; Indo-Chinese countries to Celebes and Moluccas.

Adult in breeding plumage.--White; head, neck, and fore breast golden buff; long decomposed dorsal plumes delicate vinaceous-pink, washed with brown; ends of the plumes on fore breast also vinaceous-pink. Iris light lemon-yellow; bill and bare skin around eye chrome-yellow; legs and nails black. A male from Mariveles, Luzon, measures: Length, 540; wing, 265; tail, 98; exposed culmen, 63; tarsus, 95; middle toe with claw, 89.

Young.--Pure white, without any ornamental plumes but with an orange tinge on the crown.

Winter plumage.--Pure white, without any ornamental plumes.

This bird is often seen in large flocks and individuals alight fearlessly on the backs of cattle; they often feed in plowed fields. Several hundreds of cattle egrets nested in a patch of giant grass near Guindulman, Bohol. Eggs obtained in June vary in length from 40 to 50 mm. and in width from 30 to 35. They are pale blue in color.

Genus IXOBRYCHUS Billberg, 1828.

Small, wing 150 mm. or less; bill slender and sharp, plumage reddish brown, cinnamon-rufous, and white with some mixture of black.

Species.

a1. Primaries black or blackish brown. ... sinensis (p. 178) a2. Primaries cinnamon-rufous like back. ... cinnamomeus (p. 179)

149. IXOBRYCHUS SINENSIS (Gmelin).

LITTLE YELLOW BITTERN.

Ardea sinensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 2, 642. Ardetta sinensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 227; Hand-List (1899), 1, 202; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 131; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 35.

Ba-caú bing-ey, Manila; rat, Calayan.

Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Mearns, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester). Japan, China, Korea, Indo-Chinese countries; Indian Peninsula; Malay Peninsula and islands to Australia in winter.

"Adult male.--Above earthy brown, slightly tinged with rufous, more especially on the scapulars; wing-coverts clay-brown, greater series rather paler on the edges; edge of wing white; alula, primary-coverts, and quills black, slightly shaded with ashy; inner secondaries brown, tinged with rufous; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ashy gray, the last somewhat darker; tail-feathers black; crown and nape black; sides of face, ear-coverts, and sides of neck vinous, becoming chestnut on the long frill-like feathers of the latter; throat white, mesially streaked with yellowish buff, like the rest of under surface; thighs more tawny-rufous; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts white; on each side of upper breast a patch of dependent feathers, of a blackish ground with yellowish-buff margins; under wing-coverts and axillars pure white; quills slaty below, with paler gray at the ends. 'Eyelids and facial skin green; upper mandible dark brown on the culmen, and pinkish brown on the margins; lower mandible pinkish brown, turning to green towards the tip; the toes and tibio-tarsal joint pale yellow; tarsus dull flesh-color; claws horn-color; iris yellow.' (Oates). Length, 394; culmen, 51; wing, 124; tail, 38; tarsus, 44.

"Adult female.--Differs from the male in being more rufous above, the feathers of the upper surface being rufous-brown with yellowish-buff margins; the crown is black as in the male, the ear-coverts and sides of the face are yellowish buff, and the neck-frill is also washed with the latter color; the under surface of the body the same as that of the male, but having the mesial lines more strongly indicated by tawny-buff centers to the feathers of the throat and fore neck. 'Upper mandible dark brown, lower one greenish yellow; feet greenish yellow.' (Butler.) Length, 394; culmen, 53; wing, 132; tail, 41; tarsus, 51.