from the Andaman Islands. 319 



the well-known Madagascar and tropical African form, and 

 not to Ardea sacra, Gm., = A. jugularis, Forst. (Wagler, Syst. 

 Av.). Mr. Hume, in his valuable paper on the ornithology 

 of Sindh (/. c), states that he observed the African species at 

 Muscat, along the Makran coast, at Kurrachee, and on the 

 Bombay coast at Teetul. As Sykes does not mention the 

 characteristic white cheeks of A. gularis, nor give the wing 

 and tarsal dimensions, and as I have never seen Deccan indi- 

 viduals, nor Sykes' s type, I cannot venture to assert with any 

 confidence which of the two species migrates to the Deccan ; 

 and the question must remain open until Deccan examples have 

 been examined. The dimensions given by Dr. Jerdon are 

 nearer those of the African bird ; but his description, while 

 sufficient for A. sacra, will not apply to A. gularis; for he 

 likewise omits all mention of the white cheeks. The species 

 identified by Mr. Blyth ou all occasions as A. asha, Sykcs, 

 seems to have been the African bird. For instance (Cat. 

 Calc. Mus. no. 1642), its range is stated to be the " peninsula 

 of India and Sindh, nee (?) lower Bengal." Later (J. A. S.B. 

 1855, p. 264) that author identified A. asha, Sykes, with A. 

 gularis, Bosc, and also doubtfully with H. pannosa, Gould. 

 And Mr. Blyth states (Ibis, 1865, p. 38) the range to be 

 South India and Ceylon. The Ceylonese bird has long since 

 been identified by von Pelzeln, in his exhaustive article on 

 the general subject (Novara Exp. Aves, p. 122), as belong- 

 ing to Ardea schistacea, Hempr. and Ehrenb., = ^4. gularis, 

 Bosc ; and Mr. Blanford (Geol. Zool. Abyssinia, p. 435. no. 270, 

 1870) mentions that he had compared an Abyssinian example 

 with Indian specimens in the Calcutta museum, and that there 

 can be no question of their identity. 



Mr. Blyth, having some time previously detected the dif- 

 ferences which distinguished Arracan examples of the Demi- 

 egret from those he had identified as belonging to Ardea asha, 



dition to an introductory discourse by the editor, of 129 pages of letter- 

 press, embracing many branches of natural history, and 13 plates. Of birds 

 it contains the description of A. gularis by Bosc, and of Biicervs africanus 

 by Geoftroy, fils, and also a catalogue by MM. Richard and Bernard of 

 birds collected in Cayenne by M. Blond. 



