THE BIRDS OF NORTH C A CHAR. 507 



(648) Ardbtta sinensis. — The Yellow Bittern. 

 Hume, No. 934 ; Blanford, JSo. 1571. 

 A rare bird and from its skulking habits but little noticed. I have 

 put them up on the borders of streams at over 1,000 feet elevation, 

 but they are more plains than hill birds. 



(649) A. ciNNAMOMEA. — The Chestnut Bittern. 

 Hume, No. 933 ; Blanford, No. 1572. 

 Very common. 



(650) DuPETOR FLAVicoLLis. — The Black Bittern. 

 Hume, No. 932 ; Blanford, No. 1573. 

 Quite common but, I think, the most strictly crepuscular of all the 

 small bitterns. 



(651) BoTAURrs stbllaris.— The Bittern. 

 Huim, No. 936 ; Blanford, No. 1574. 



I have only once come across the Bittern in C/achar, but it was 

 under very remarkable circumstances. Once when out shooting at a 

 place called Bandho on the river Diyung, which there ran at about 

 750 feet elevation, I came on a nest in a tree which puzzled me 

 greatly. It was high up, fully 50 feet from the ground, and was made 

 mainly of branches and twigs, but on this was a kind of superstructure 

 of v/eeds and leaves and one long strip of Cachari cloth. It contained 

 two young birds which I kept, but before taking them I awaited the 

 arrival of the old birds and shot the female which proved to be a 

 Bittern. What it was doing building such a nest in such a place I 

 cannot say, but there w-as no doubt as to the identity. 

 OrderXIX— ANSERES. 



For the sake of uniformity I adopt Blanford's classification in this 

 article, but this does not mean that I think it better than Salvadori's, 

 which, but for the reason mentioned, I should have made use of. As 

 I am in the course of writing separately on Indian ducks, the notes here 

 will be only such as have reference to matters newly ascertained. 



Family Anatid^. 

 Sub-Family Anserince. 



(652) Anser ferus. — The Grey Lag Goose. 

 Hume, No. 945 ; Blanford, No. 1579. 



No geese can be said to be common in Cachar, though in some years 

 both this and A, indicus may be found in fair numbers. 



