42 AHltVAUX,. 



where I believe they had started to construct their nests. They were very tame, and were hard 

 to flush, their deep rich chestnut bacii showing very conspicuously when flying. They did not 

 remain long, as I heard after several were shot." 



L'nder date Sth May, if)05, Mr. G. A. Keartland wrote me from Northcote, \'ictoria, as 

 follows: — "I was asked on the 5th Alarch to go and see a strange bird a man had caught at 

 I'rouin, in Gippsland. It proved to be a Little Bittern (Avdctta piisiHa), which they had kept 

 alive, by feeding it on raw meat, for about two months. As they did not care for it they gave it 

 to me, and since it has been here it has grown (]uite tame, and will take small pieces of meat 

 from my hand. It has so many strange ways ; sometimes it will straighten itself up like a stick, 

 at other times it will crouch and puff its feathers out, until it resembles a ball ; it has, too, many 

 of the characteristics of the Nankeen Night Heron." 



The late Mr. H. G. Evered found this species breeding near Mathoura, in Southern New 

 South Wales, and Mr. James Kershaw, Curator of the National Museum, Melbourne, to 

 whom I am indebted for the loan of the eggs, sent me the following note relative to the 

 taking of them : — " Mr. II. G. Evered found the nest of the Minute Bittern, containing four 

 fresh eggs, in a swamp near Mathoura, New South Wales, during November, 1893. It was an 

 open nest, composed of dead leaves of aquatic plants, grass and herbage growing about the 

 swamp, and was fastened to several reeds just above the surface of the water. The bird was 

 seen on the nest, and one was captured ali\'e." 



The eggs of the Minute Bittern are oval in form and pure white, the shell being close- 

 grained, smooth and lustreless. Like the eggs of all birds laid in similar situations, they soon 

 become dirty and nest stained. They measure : — Length (A) 1-13 x 0-98 inches ; (B) 1-26 x 

 I inches. 



OemjLS IDXTP^ETOIS, Jhine and liekheitJiach. 



Dupetor gouldi. 



YELLOW-NECKED MANGROVE BITTERN. 



Ardettafacicollis (nee Lath ), Gould, Bda. Austr., fol. Vol. VI., pi. 6.5 (I84S). 



ButoroidesflavicoUis (nee Lath.^, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. 3I.5 (186.5). 



Dupetor gouldi, Sharps, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXVI., p. 249 (1898); id., Hand-1. Bds., 

 Vol. I., p. 20.3 (1899). 



Adult male. — General colour above rich dark broivii, the back and scapulars faintly icashed 

 with bronzy-ijreen ; upper wing-coverts dark brown, narrowly margined with rufous around the tip ; 

 quills bluish-slate colour ; forehead, crown of the head, cheeks, ear-coverts and hind-neck blackish- 

 brown, ivith a faiiit purplish gloss ; chin, sides of throat and neck golden-straw colour : featliers on 

 the centre of tli.e throat straw ciilonr, irregidarly tipped ivith black, giving tliese parts a mottled 

 appearance ; fore-neck and chest dark broivn, willi a blackish streak down the centre, and broadly 

 niaryined ivith straw colour, irliich is tnore often con/ined to one web only ; remainder of the under 

 surface ({ark broivn ; bill dark horn colour, utider side of lower mandible yelloivish ; leys and feet 

 olive-broivn ; iris yellow. Total length in the jlesh 37 'o inches, wing 8'8, tail o'3,bill S'3, tarsus 

 2-75. 



Adult ¥K's\ \hv..^SimUar in, plninngr. to the male, bat of a paler broirn, the blackish markings 

 on the centre of the throat and fore-neck less distinct, and intermingled toitli spots of rufous-bv,(f. 



Distribution. — Western Australia, North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South 

 Australia, Queensland, New South Wales. 



