BUBULCUS. 177 



slate-gray; the white of chin and throat is much restricted and on the 

 fore breast is reduced to a few shaft-lines; all of the wing-coverts are 

 edged with dull rusty buff. The specimen collected l)y Mearns near 

 Palawan measures : AVing, 165 ; tail, 58 ; culmen from frontal feathers, 

 60 ; tarsus, 47 ; middle toe with claw, 50. 



Genus BUBULCUS Bonaparte, 1854. 



Xon-hreeding plumage all wliite; legs and nails black; primaries and 

 secondaries al)0ut equal in length ; exposed culmen less than middle toe 

 with claw, the latter less than tarsus. 



148. BUBULCUS COROMANDUS (Boddaert). 

 INDIAN CATTLE EGRET. 



Cancronta coromanda Boddaert, Tabl. PI. Eul. (1783), .54. 



Buhulcus cormnandus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Miis. (1898), 26, 217; 

 Hand-List (1899), 1, 202; Gates, Cat. Birds Eggs (1902), 2, 130, 

 pi. 5, fig. 2; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 389, fig. 92 

 (head) ; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1900), 35; McGregor, 

 Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907) 2, sec. A, 322. 



Ta-gac' cal-a-bau, Manila; la-guac', Calayan ; td-hon, Bohol. 



Balabae (Steere Exp., Everett); Basilan {McGregor) ; Batan {McGregor) ; 

 Bohol {Everett, McGregor); Bongao {Everett); Calayan {McGregor); Catan- 

 duanes {Whitehead) ; Cebu {Hteere Exp., Bourns c€ Worcester. McGregor) ; Cuyo 

 {McGregor); Guimaras {Steere Exp.); Lubang {McGregor); Luzon (Jagor, 

 Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; Masbate {Bourns d Worcester) ; Mindanao 

 {Steere Exp., Goodfellow) ; Mindoro {McGregor) ; Xegros {Hteere Exp., Bourns 

 d Worcester) ; Palawan {Steere, Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns 

 d Worcester, White) ; Panay (Hteere Exp., Bourns d Worcester) ; Siquijor {Ce- 

 lestino) ; Sulu {Platen); Tablas {Bourns d Worce.'^ter) ; Ticao (McGregor). 

 Eastern Siberia, Korea, China, Indian Peninsula. Ceylon; Indo-Chinese countries 

 to Celebes and Moluccas. 



Adult in hreeding phiiiiagc. — White; head, neck, and fore breast golden 

 buff; long decomposed dorsal plumes delicate vinaceous-pink, washed 

 with brown ; ends of the plumes on fore breast also vinaceous-pink. Iris 

 light lemon-yellow ; bill and bare skin around eye chrome-yellow ; legs 

 and nails black. A male from Mariveles, Luzon, measures: Length, 540; 

 wing, 265; tail, 98; exposed culmen, ()3 ; tarsus, 05; middle toe with 

 claw, 89. 



Young. — Pure white, without any ornamental ])luincs but with an 

 orange tinge on the crown. 



Winter phunage. — Pure white, without any ornamental plumes. 



This bird is often seen in large flocks and individuals alight fearlessly 

 on the backs of cattle ; they often feed in ])lowed fields. Several hundreds 

 of cattle egrets nested in a patch of giant grass near (tuinduhnan, Bohol. 

 Eggs obtained in June vary in length froui 40 to 50 mm. and in width 

 from 30 to 35. They are pale blue in color. 

 77719 12 



