754 iBIRDS OP INDIA. 



The Black Bittern. 



Descr. — Plumage above, in breeding season, dull cinereous 

 black ; chin and throat with the feathers white, ti[)ped with red- 

 brown ; the large feathers of the neck mixed with white, red- 

 brown, and dusky black, each feather having some black at the 

 base and tip, and more or less red-brown on one web only ; a 

 stripe of golden yellow down the side of the neck, widening 

 inferiorly ; feathers of the back lengthened, but not decomposed, 

 forming a dorsal plume ; the feathers of the breast dark ashy, 

 slightly lengthened ; abdomen dusky, mixed with whitish ; Inner 

 wing-coverts dusky reddish. The young bird has the feathers 

 slightly edged with rufous, and the throat and neck less richly 

 coloured than in the adult. 



Bill livid red-brown, dusky on the culmen ; cere livid purple ; 

 irides yellow, in some with an outer circle of red ; legs pale brown, 

 with a tinge of green in some, reddish-brown In others. Length 

 23 to 24 inches ; extent 30 ; wing 8^ ; tail 3 ; bill at front 3^ ; 

 tarsus 2^ ; middle toe and claw 2^. 



This very handsome Bittern appears to be generally diffused 

 throughout India, but is by no means common or abundant. I 

 have seen it on the Malabar Coast, in rice-fields ; and obtained it in 

 the neighbourhood of Madras, and in various parts of Bengal, but I 

 never saw it in Central India, nor the Deccan ; and it appears to 

 be rare in the N. W. Provinces. It frequents swamps, rice-fields, 

 and beds of rushes and reeds ; and is almost entirely nocturnal in 

 its habits. It comes out to feed about sunset, and has a low deep 

 booming call, like the sound of a small drum. I have never pro- 

 cured its nest, but the Australian bird is said to build in low 

 trees, and to lay eggs of a pale bluish-green colour, more rounded 

 in form than is usual in this family. From the nature of the 

 ground it frequents, I think it is more likely however, that it gen- 

 erally builds among reeds. 



It extends to Ceylon, Burmah, (where it is very abundant,) and 

 through the Malayan islands to Australia ; it-is also found in China. 



Bonaparte separates the Javanese race as A.hilineata, ('uvler; and 

 the Australian as A. Gouldi; and he gives A. stiirmi, Wagler, and 

 A. gutturalis, Smith, from Africa, as belonging to the same group. 



