THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 39 



NYCTICORAX NYCTICORAX NYCTICORAX (Linnaeus) 



Eurasian Night Heron 



[Ardea] Nycticorax Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, pp. 142-143 



("in Europa australi"). 

 Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 



1931, p. 173 (Chiang Mai) ; 1936, p. 74 (Chiang Mai).— de Schauensee, Proc. 



Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1934, p. 279 (Chiang Mai). 



The status of this bird is uncertain ; at Chiang Mai it appears to be 

 an uncommon winter visitor from late in August to the beginning of 

 February, but the only other northern locality where it has been found 

 is Ban Hat La, on the Nan river, where I took an adult pair, April 8, 

 1937. Chiang Mai specimens are usually immature and may be wan- 

 derers from breeding localities farther south. 



The night heron is almost completely nocturnal, spending the day- 

 light hours concealed at the heart of some dense clump of giant bam- 

 boo and venturing forth at dusk to feed along the river or at marshy 

 spots in the ricefields. I frequently saw it over the Mae Ping at Chi- 

 ang Mai, flapping heavily through the gathering darkness, and often 

 heard its loud squawk falling from the sky, even above the streets of 

 the town. 



An immature female from Chiang Mai had the irides golden- 

 orange; the orbital skin and lores green; the maxilla black with a 

 green streak along the side ; the mandible green, tipped blackish ; the 

 rictus greenish yellow ; the feet and toes green, bright yellow behind 

 the upper tarsal joint ; the soles bright yellow ; the claws horny brown, 

 with apical half black. Adults differ chiefly in having the irides blood 

 red. 



The head of this species seems to be disproportionately large, and 

 the neck is short and thick. Old birds have the crown, nuchal crest, 

 and back black, with a greenish gloss; the wings and tail gray; the 

 underparts gray or white; sometimes two or three long, narrow, white 

 feathers in the crest. Immature examples are quite different in ap- 

 pearance: above they are brown streaked with whitish (on the wings 

 the streaks are enlarged to conspicuous spots) and below whitish 

 streaked with brown. 



GORSACHIUS MELANOLOPHUS MELANOLOPHUS (Raffles) 

 SUMATRAN BLACK-CRESTED TlGER BITTERN 



Ardea melanolopha Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, vol. 13, 1822, p. 326 (Su- 

 matra ; type locality restricted to Benkulan, by Kinnear and Robinson, Bull. 

 Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 47, 1027, p. 130). 



Oorsachius melanolophus, Williamson. Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, 1918, p. 41 

 (Phrae). — Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1920, p. 7G8 ("Northern Siam"). 



The tiger bittern seems to be a bird of extreme rarity in the north- 

 ern provinces, and Williamson's specimen, a female collected at Phrae 



