Mr. R. Svviuhoe on Amoij Ornithulupj. 231 



Bill entirely black; inside of mouth deep tile-red. Loral 

 region, stripe past the eye, and broad nuchal band black ; outer 

 web of outermost primary quill to about -5 inch of its tip 

 grey-black. Legs blackish-brown, with a blood-red transpa- 

 rency about them. Upper parts pale grey, nearly white on the 

 tail and quills, which have white stems and a semitransparent 

 appearance. The new quills of the wings and tail, not full- 

 grown, have a rosy glow even on their stems. Carpal edge of 

 the wing and broad inner margins of quills white, as are also the 

 extremities of the tertials. Forehead, vent, and under tail- 

 coverts pure white, with but a slight blush ; the rest of the 

 under parts white, with a lovely glow of rosy. Middle claw 

 with a slight attempt at serration on its falcated edge. 



A male Anas glocitans died in the aviary of a friend. Its iris 

 was chestnut-brown. Bill deep liver-brown. Legs and toes 

 pale bluish-grey, tinged with brown at the joints, and with 

 deeper brown on the webs and nails. 



July 2nd. — My hunter brought me a pair of Ardetta sinensis, 

 together with their nest containing live eggs. The nest is 

 loosely put together, and about 10 inches in entire diameter. 

 It is composed of reeds and rushes. The five eggs all diflfer 

 somewhat in length and breadth, some being more spherical, 

 some more ovate; mean length 1*2 inch ; mean greatest breadth 

 1-1 inch. They are all but white, having just a faint tinge of 

 asparagus-green. All the eggs contained young, but they were 

 of different ages. The most advanced, the bill of which looked 

 as if the tips of the mandibles had been clipped off, was nearly 

 fit to break forth. Its down was of a light fawn-colour. The 

 different stages of these chicks show, I presume, that the hen 

 begins to sit on the first egg. I observed the same habit in 

 Nycticorax griseus (Ibis, 1861, p. 54). 



Ardetta sinensis, adult. Bill pale sienna-yellow, washed with 

 van dyke-brown; blackish-brown along the culmen. Cere and 

 orbits yellow. Iris bright yellow. Legs, claws, and toes pale 

 sienna-yellow, tinged with green and washed with vandyke ; 

 the greenish-yellow bright at the tarsal joint and sulphurous 

 underneath the tarsus near the same joint. 



August 1st. — A thunder-cloud obscuring the sun at 6 p.m., I 



