430 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 



242. Ardeola ralloides. Squacco Heron. 

 Chindao : " Chipugwa-pugwa." 



P. On the 2nd of December I noted quite a number of 

 these birds near Chibabava at the pools which I have already 

 mentioned, chiefly in parties of four or five. The stomachs 

 of two of my specimens contained fish, a large spider, and a 

 grasshopper. 



243. Erythrocnus rufiventris. Rufous-bellied Heron. 

 Singuni : " Inyakola encani." 



P. These birds were fairly common about the pools 

 between Cliibabava and Mangunde on December 2nd. They 

 would fly, when flushed, for fifty yards or so — seldom much 

 further — and settle down quietly in shallow water amongst 

 the sedge. I saw one squatting down on the point of a dry 

 branch projecting from the water. My specimen, a female, 

 has much less chestnut on the upper wing-coverts than have 

 any of the specimens in the British Museum. It measured 

 18'55 inches in the flesh, and its stomach contained the 

 remnants of beetles and what looked like a portion of the 

 front wing of a butterfly. The tarsi and toes were light 

 gamboge tinged with olive, the claws olive-grey ; the iris 

 was gamboge w'ith an outer ring of orange. The bill was 

 for the most part dusky olive-grey, becoming nearly black at 

 the point, but the base of the lower mandible was bright 

 green and the whole of its median portion, as well as the upper 

 mandible immediately along the commissure, was very pale 

 brown. The skin below and just above the eye was carmine- 

 pink, changing into pale orange and yellowish green in front 

 towards the nostril. 



244. Ardetta payesi. Red-necked Little Bittern. 



P. In December I flushed a small Bittern from the 

 sedge of the large pools near Chibabava which from its slaty 

 back and buff coverts I took to belong to the present 

 species, 



245. Hagedashia hagedash. Hadada. 



Singuni: " Inganga '' (The "ng ^' pronounced softly like 

 French nasal ''n''). 



