THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 37 



like to get more than its toes wet. At the edge of the marshes and in 

 damp pastures, where the buffaloes are turned out to graze, flocks of 

 these beautiful birds may be seen, stalking about among the cattle and 

 frequently resting upon their backs in pursuit of insects frightened up 

 by the herd. A specimen taken at Chiang Mai had the stomach dis- 

 tended with grasshoppers. 



The irides are light yellow ; the orbital region olive-green ; the lores 

 pale dull orange ; the bill yellow, with the extreme tip and basal half 

 of the culmen horny; the feet, toes, and claws black; the soles dull 

 olive-green. 



In nuptial plumage this species is unmistakable, having the head, 

 neck, and long dorsal plumes orange-buff and the remainder of the 

 plumage pure white. In nonbreeding dress the whole bird is white 

 and is then likely to be confused with other, similar species. From the 

 large and intermediate egrets it may be known by its lesser size, thicker 

 neck, and shorter bill ; from the little egret by the different colors of 

 bill and feet. 



EGRETTA ALBA MODESTA (J. E. Gray) 



Indian Large Egret 



Ardea modesta, J. E. Gray, Zoological miscellany, 1831, pp. 19-20 (India). 

 Herodias alba, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Hand]., 1916, p. 137 



("Northern Siam"). 

 Herodias alba modesta, Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1920, p. 168 ("Throughout Siam"). 

 Egretta alba modesta, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 173 



(Chiang Mai). 

 Casmerodius alius modestus, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, 



p. 73 (Chiang Mai). 



Although this egret is probably common and generally distributed 

 throughout the northern provinces, the only specimen known from our 

 area is a male in nonbreeding plumage collected by me at Ban Hat 

 Sam Khwae, on the Nan river, April 8, 1837. 



At Chiang Mai a bird that was either this species or the interme- 

 diate egret was found every month in the year but was rather rare dur- 

 ing the driest period. In the rainy season, however, it became very 

 common, and hundreds could be seen at once on the large marshes 

 between Chiang Mai and Lamphun. 



In nuptial plumage this largest of the white herons wears long, fila- 

 mentous dorsal plumes, which extend some inches beyond the tail ; it 

 has the bill, feet, and toes black. In nonbreeding dress the plumes 

 are shed and the bill becomes yellow ; in this plumage it can be dis- 

 tinguished from the intermediate egret only by shooting and measur- 

 ing the specimen. E. a. modesta has the wing length over 350 mm. 

 and the length of tarsus over 160 ; E. i. intermedia has the wing under 

 350 mm. and the tarsus under 150. 



