70 Mr. P. W. Munu on the Birds 



112. BuTORiDEs jAVANicA. (Little Green Heron.) 



A permanent resident^ but not abundant in the immediate 

 neighbourhood ; a very shy and solitary species^ usually found 

 on the edges of tanks quite surrounded by jungle : on 

 being disturbed it flies up into the boughs of some over- 

 hanging tree;, and by running nimbly along them reaches 

 the outside of the tree^ whence it takes flight into the next, 

 and by repeating the proceeding is soon at some distance off, 

 while its disturber is still examining the boughs among 

 which it was first lost sight of. 



At Mogra, on the E. I. Railway, however, they are 

 fairly plentiful on the banks of the river there, where it is 

 shut in by trees on either bank. I have occasionally flushed 

 one out among the grass in a jheel and among paddy, but 

 rarely at any distance from tree-jungle. 



113. Ardetta cin.namomea. (Chestnut Bittern.) 

 Nowhere very plentiful, a permanent resident, of extremely 



shy and skulking habits, pretty generally distributed. I 

 once found one caught in a bamboo fish-cage in a jheel near 

 Barrackpore. In certain localities one or two of these birds 

 are always to be found. 



114. Ardetta sinensis. (Little Yellow Bittern.) 



I have noticed this species only in one locality — in a jheel 

 near Nattagore, where they are plentiful among the tall 

 reed-jungle in the centre of the jheel, and may be seen 

 perching on the stems of the reeds. On being disturbed they 

 drop down into the thicker growth, and escape by skulking 

 among it. 



115. BoTAURUs STELLARis. (Commou Bittern.) 



Rare, and a cold-weather visitor only. On one or two 

 occasions I have flushed them when snipe-shooting in paddy- 

 fields. 



116. Leptoptilus argala. (Adjutant.) 



A visitor during the rainy season to most districts, though 

 they probably are found all the year round at the Salt Lakes 

 near Calcutta, where they feed with Vultures and Kites on 



