386 ARDEID. 
Goisakius melanolophus, Raffi. 
936bis.—Butler, Deccan ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 435. 
THE MALAYAN TIGER BITTERN. 
Length, 17 to 19°62 ; expanse, 29°5 to 37 ; wing, 9:12 to 10°37 ; 
tarsus, 2°3 to 2°69 ; bill at front, 1°8 ; bill from gape, 2-4. 
Bare skin at base of bill green; bill horny-brown, greenish- 
horny beneath ; irides greenish-yellow ; legs and feet greenish- 
olive. 
Crown of head and nape black; the feathers of the occiput 
lengthened into a full crest, and each irregularly marked with a 
white spot across its centre, and a smaller white tip ; the feathers 
of the forehead and above the eyes black, with ochreous instead 
of white spots, forming an obscure bar above the eye ; cheeks 
and sides of throat pale ochreous, with narrow zigzag lines of 
black across the feathers; the mantle chesnut, freckled and 
irregularly barred with narrow zigzag lines of black; upper tail- 
coverts dull black, with white dots. 
Tail, above, dark slaty or bluish-black ; quills black, tipped 
with white; the base of the white tinged with chesnut and 
mottled with black ; greater-coverts of first three primaries black, 
broadly tipped white ; the base of the white on the outer webs 
tinged with chesnut, which is closely freckled with black 
blotches and spots, and replaced at the extreme tip by white 
less densely freckled; two or three small feathers at the angle 
of the wing pure white. 
Under primary-coverts pale ochreous, closely barred with black, 
and the larger feathers broadly tipped white ; rest of under wing- 
coverts barred black and white. 
Chin and throat white, faintly tinged with ochreous, and with 
an obscure central streak of black dots; throat rich chesnut, 
minutely banded with black bars; centre of the breast like the 
throat, with two lateral streaks of ochreous (one on either side) 
formed by some of the feathers continuously being paler chesnut 
and free from all black but a few dots. 
Abdominal feathers pale ochreous-chesnut, with small dots and 
obscure bars of black, but mostly with a white central streak ; 
elongated feathers of the abdominal train paler ochreous, very 
faintly and sparsely dotted with black, and with the central 
streak of white more apparent ; coverts of tibia ochreous, mottled 
with dull black ; under tail-coverts white, tinged on their outer 
margins with ochreous and speckled with black dots—Z. W. - 
Bourdillon, Stray Feathers, Vol. VU, p. 525. 
The Malayan Tiger Bittern is extremely rare; the only speci- 
men recorded from our district was obtained by Mr. Laird in 
the forests west of Belgaum. 
Genus, Nycticorax, Steph. 
Bill short, stout; culmen curved; wings with third quill 
