CEYLON WATER BIRDS. 323 
Bill black, paler at the base ; iris blood-red or scarlet ; 
naked facial skin yellowish-green, dull livid in the breeding 
season; feet yellowish-green, pale rufous in the breeding 
season. 
Length 23; wing 11:5; tail4; tarsus 3; billfrom gape 3°8. 
Distribution —Found in scattered colonies throughout the 
low-country ; locally distributed throughout India and Burma ; 
occurs all over Africa and the temperate and warmer regions 
of Europe, Asia, and North America. 
Habits —The birds roost in company on large trees during 
the day, departing at nightfall for their fishing grounds with 
a slow heavy flight, during which they frequently utter a 
harsh cry of “ kwark.”’ 
Like many other Herons, they breed gregariously in thickets 
surrounded byswamp. Thenest is the usual structure of sticks, 
and there are generally four eggs of pale sea-green measuring 
about 1:97 by 1°38. The breeding season appears to vary, 
depending on suitable conditions of weather and water supply. 
I have taken eggs in March, July, September, and December. 
GORSACHIUS MELANOLOPHUS (Blanford, Vol. IV., p. 398 ; 
Legge, p. 1169). 
The Malay Bittern. 
Description.—Adults : the crown and crested nape are 
black, tinged with ashy-white ; sides of head, including a band 
above the eye, the sides of neck, and hind-neck vinous chest- 
nut ; the main portion of the upper parts are cinnamon, with 
wavy freckled lines of black ; the outer primary coverts black 
with white tips ; wing quills black, the outer primaries with 
white tips, the rest with the ends chestnut freckled with white ; 
upper tail coverts dull rufous brown ; the tail darker, almost 
black. The chin and throat are white; the fore-neck and 
upper breast brownish-buff streaked with black ; the abdomen 
is mottled and streaked with white, black, and rufous ; the 
lower tail coverts mainly white. 
Young birds are blackish on the crown and nape, with 
angular white or buff spots. The upper parts are dull dark 
brown with wavy buff crossbars ; wing quills blackish, tipped 
