ARDEIDA. 383 
SoD _  —co——eeeee EE 
DIMENSIONS. 
eher: Namus. F cs Cotor. 
Sit 
can 9) 
923 | Ardea cinerea... - | 2°27 | 1°66 | Delicate bluish or Ssea-green. 
924 | Ardea purpurea seeps | acl gee Do. do, do, 
925 | Herodias torra pace) elt Aa Lasse; Do. do. do. 
926 | Herodias intermedia “ 1:9} 1°44 Do. but rather paler. 
927 | Herodias garzetta wee epla dale Lee Do. do. do. 
928 | Demi-egretta gularis xe [1-68 1:3 Do, but still more pale. 
929 | Bubulcus coromandus.., |_ 1:71 | 1:32 White, faintly tinged green- 
ish or bluish. 
930 | Ardeola grayi... | 148} 117 | Rather deep sea green or 
greenish or bluish. 
931 | Butorides javanica «-» | 162 | 1:21 | Greenish, 
937 | Nycticorax griseus ree) deal edo) ee. DO, 
Genus, Ardetta, Gray. 
Bill slender, straight; tibia feathered nearly to the joint; 
tarsus short ; toes lengthened and strong ; claws long, of small or 
moderate size ; plumage of neck more or less lengthened, as in 
the Bittern ; of nocturnal habits. 
Ardetta flavicollis, Latham. 
932.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. Il, p. 753; Murray’s 
Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 273. 
THE Biack BItrery. 
Kala Bagla, Hin. 
Length, 23 to 24; expanse, 30 ; wing, 8°5 ; tail, 3; tarsus, 2:5 : 
bill at front, 3-5. 
Bill livid red-brown ; culmen dusky ; cere livid purple ; irides 
yellow; legs pale brown, with a tinge of green in some, reddish- 
brown in others. 
Plumage above (in breeding season) dull cinereous black ; chin 
and throat with the feathers white, tipped 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 colored than in the adult. 
The Black Bittern, within our limits, has only been recorded 
from Sind. Mr. Doig found them breeeding on the Narra Canal 
in the month of May. He says the nests are formed of tama- 
risk twigs and occasionally a few aquatic weeds, and that the eggs, 
