224 ARDEID^. 



including the scapulars, lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; 

 lesser wing-coverts ochreous buff; median and greater series 

 lavender-grey ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills black ; 

 tail black ; crown of bead crested, greenish black ; hind-neck bare, 

 but hidden by ruddy isabelline feathers ; sides of the face washed 

 with vinous, the sides of the hinder crown decidedly more ashy ; 

 under surface of body ochreous buff; the sides of the throat, 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts white ; the feathers of the chest 

 elongated, some of the feathers white, with buff towards their ends, 

 the long feathers on the sides of the breast., blackish with buff 

 margins ; the sides of the body with narrow-mesial shaft-lines of 

 brown ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white : " bill purplish 

 yellow ; legs greenish yellow ; soles light yellow ; iris orange- 

 yellow" {Scrope Doig.) Total length 11 inches, culmen 1-9, wing 

 5'7, tail 1-8, tarsus 1-75, middle toe and claw 1"9. 



Adult female. Different from the male. General colour above 

 chestnut-brown, including the scapulars and inner secondaries, aU 

 the feathers edged with ochreous buff, producing a streaked appear- 

 ance ; wings and tail as in the male ; sides of face and frill concealing 

 the neck rather more rufous than in the male, the neck-feathers 

 strongly inclining to chestnut ; under surface of body distinctly 

 streaked with dusky centres to the feathers of the throat and fore- 

 neck, the flanks and breast also streaked with blackish centres to 

 the feathers. Total length 12 inches, culmen 1-9, wing 5-8, tail 

 I'S, tarsus 1-8. 



Young. Similar to the old female, but much more varied on the 

 upper surface, the feathers being dusky brown, with rufous or 

 yellowish-buff margins, the wing-coverts mottled with brown 

 centres to the feathers instead of being uniform as in the female ; 

 the under surface of body much more thickly streaked with dark 

 brown centres to the feathers, those on the breast and flanks being 

 very broad. 



Hah. Central and Southern Europe, below 60° N. lat., the 

 Mediterranean countries east to Central Asia and W.W. India to 

 80° E. long. South to Africa in winter. 



a, b, c. c? 2 3.d. Holland. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



et pull. sk. 



d, e,f. Pull. sk. Holland. Gould Coll. 



ff. Juv. sk. Holland, July. Seebohm Coll. 



h, i. S 2 ad. sk. Holland. Shelley Coll. 



k. 2 juv. sk. Fogaras, Hungary, July (C. Hungarian National 



Czynk). Museum [P.J. 



I, m. cJ 2 ad. Mogador (J. Payton). Howard Saunders, 



sk. Esq. [P.]. 



n. 2 ad. sk. Funchal, Madeira, April 20. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, 



Esq. [P.]. 



0. ». f? 2 ad. sk. Corfu. Colonel Portlock 

 '^ [P.]. 



q. S ad. sk. Egypt {G. E. S.). Shelley Coll. 



r, s. d 2 ad. sk. Near Cairo, April. Thomas J. Smith, 



Esq. [P.]. 



