27. AEDEOLA. 201 



p. 265, pi. ix. (Transvaal) ; Gray, Hand-l. B. iii. p. 30, no. 10137 

 (1871) ; Gurney in Anderss. B. Dam. Ld. p. 287 (1872 : Okavango ; 

 Teoughe; Lake Xgami); Reichen. J. f. O. 1877, p. 25G ; Ayres, 

 Ibis, 1880, p. 2()!> (Transvaal) ; Bocai/e', Orn. Am/ula, p. 411 (1881 : 

 Humbe) ; Holuf, .)■ l\4z. Beitr. Orn. 'S'ddafr. p. 273 (1882) ; Ayres, 

 Ibis, 1886, p. 294 (Limpopo 11.). 



Ardea seinirufa, Sckl. Mies. Pays-Bas, Ardete, p. 35 (1863); Gray, 

 Hand-l. B. iii. p. 30, no. 13142 (1871). 



Butorides rufiventris, Sharjie in Oates's Matabele Land, App. B, p. 327 

 (1881 : Heudrik's Vley). 



Ardeola rufiventris, Reichen. JB. Hamh. Wissetisch. Anst. x. p. 8 

 (1893: Quilimaue). 



Erythrocnus rufiventris, Sharpe, Bull.B. O. Club, iii. p. xxxix (1894). 



Adtdt nude in breedinrf-plumage. General colour above black, with 

 a distinct wash of bluish slate ou the long scapulars, crest-feathers, 

 and neck ; lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail rich chest>- 

 nut ; wing-coverts deep maroon, those along the bend of the wing 

 tipped with grey ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, aud quills black, 

 powdered externally with slate-grey; secondaries dark maroon, with 

 the greater part of the outer webs and the innermost secondaries 

 like the back ; head and neck all round black, especially on the 

 crown and throat, the other parts shaded with slaty grey, which 

 extends over the breast, leaving the abdomen, thighs, and under tail- 

 coverts, as well as the sides of the body, axillaries, and under wing- 

 coverts, deep maroon ; lower primary-coverts and quill-lining ashy 

 grey : " basal half of bill nearly white, remainder black, with the 

 tip of the under-mandible yellow ; bare skin round the eye yellow ; 

 feet and bare part of thighs yellow ; tarsi pale ; iris bright yellow " 

 {T. Ayres). Total length 17'5 inches, culmen 2-3, wing 8-5, tail 2-9, 

 tarsus 2-15. 



Tounrj. Much duller and browner than the adult, and the rufous 

 colour very much paler ; throat j'ellowish buff as well as the centre 

 of the fore-neck, the mesial streak being broken up into mottlings. 



Hah. South Africa from British Caffraria to Xatal and the Trans- 

 vaal to the Zambesi, and westward to Lake Xgami and the Okavango 

 and Cunene Rivers. 



a,b. Ad. sk. Kingwilliamstown. MajorTravelyan[P.]. 



c. Imm. sk. Durban, Xatal (Gordye). Shelley Coll. 



d. cJ ad. sk. Potchefstroom, Transvaal ( T. Shelley Coll. 



Ayres). 



e. Juv.sk. Potchefjitroom, Dec. (7". Gurney Coll. 



Ayres). 



f. S imm. sk. Heodrik s Vley (F. Gates). W. E. & C. G. Gates, 



Esqs. [P.]. 

 ff, h. lunn. sk. Makalaka Country {Dr. Brad- Shelley Coll. 



shaw). 



27. ARDEOLA. ^^ ^ 



Ardeola, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 559 A. ralloides. 



Buphus, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 979 "A. malaccensis." 



Range. Confined to the Old World, ranging over Temperate 



