752 BIRDS or INDIA. 



A. comata, Pallas, of Europe, and North Africa, appears to 

 have similar habits, but it is described as nidificating in dense 

 beds of reeds, making a large nest of rushes and weeds. A. 

 speciosa, Horsfield, from Malayana and China, has the dorsal 

 plumes blackish-green. Bonaparte has a fourth species, A. bac- 

 cJnis, from Malacca, with the dorsal plumes blackish-grey, pro- 

 bably merely a worn state of speciosa. 



Ardea sibilatrix, Temm., pi. col. 263, from America, is placed 

 in this genus by Bonaparte, who states that it exhibits analogies 

 with some of the Night-herons. It has the dorsal plumes blackish- 

 green. 



Gen. BuTOKiDES^ Blyth. 



Char. — Bill rather long, straight, moderately stout ; neck short, 

 thickish ; tibia feathered nearly to the joint, tarsus short; toes 

 short ; inner toe short. Head crested ; feathers of the back 

 and scapulars highly lanceolate ; plumage dull blue. 



This genus may be said to have some of the characters of the 

 Bitterns with others of the Night-herons. 



931. But or ides javanica, Horsfield. 

 Ardea, apud Horsfield — Blyth, Cat. 1644 — Sykes, Cat. 177 

 ' — Jerdon, Cat. 306 — Kancha hagla H. — Kana-bogla, Beng. — 

 Dosi-honga, Tel., Doshi-koku, Tarn. 



The Little Green Heron. 

 Z)escr. — Head, with lengthened occipital crest, glossy black ; a 

 short black line from below the eye, between which and the 

 black head the ear-coverts are greyish-white ; back and sides 

 of neck ashy-grey ; feathers of the back, including the scapulars 

 and feathers covering the tertials, lengthened, lanceolate, dull 

 o-reen, the upper ones with an ashy tinge ; rump reddish-ashy ; 

 upper tail-coverts greenish ; wing-coveits glossy-green, edged with 

 pale fulvous ; quills dark slaty, narrowly tipped white, and pass- 

 ing into green on the tertials, edged with fulvous ; tail dark slaty, 

 and the lower plumage, with the thigh-coverts, ashy, with a 

 central line down the neck to the breast whitish, the feathers 



