260 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



Iris bright crimson ; eyelids and facial skin dull livid ; bill black ; legs 

 and toes pale rufous ; claws black. In the nonbreeding-season the base 

 of the bill appears to be greenish, and in some birds the legs are described 

 as being yellowish. 



Length 23 inches, tail 3'6, wing 11 '5, tarsus 3, bill from gape 4. The 

 sexes appear to be of the same size. 



The Night-Heron is extremely abundant over the whole of the plains of 

 British Burmah. 



It is found over the greater part of Europe, Africa, North America and 

 Asia, extending in the latter continent down to the Malay islands. 



This species is met with in immense flocks, resting during the day in 

 trees and bamboos near streams, and very frequently in the fine tall hedges 

 surrounding Burmese monasteries. Towards dusk they fly to their feeding- 

 grounds, uttering those loud quacking notes which must be familiar to 

 every one residing in the country. In India, and probably in Burmah 

 also at times, they construct their nests in trees ; but at Myitkyo I found 

 them breeding in reed-swamps, with Cormorants and other water-birds, in 

 July and August. The eggs are pale green in colour. 



Genus GORSACHIUS, Pucker. 



625. GORSACHIUS MELANOLOPHUS. 

 THE MALAYAN TIGER BITTERN. 



Ardea melanolopha, Raffi. Trans, Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 326. Nycticorax liznno- 

 philax, Temm. PL Col. 581. Nycticorax goisagi, Temm. PL Col. 582. 

 Ardea goisagi, Temm. et ScUeg. Faun. Jap., Aves, p. 116, pi. 70. Botaurus 

 limnophilax, Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 355. Goisakius melanolophus, Hume, 

 S. F. ii. p. 312 ; Bourdillon, S. F. vii. p. 524 j Hume, S. F. viii. p. 114 ; Kelham, 

 Ibis, 1882, p. 196. Gorsachius melanolophus, Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 355; 

 Bl.B.Burm.p. 160; Wold. Trans. Zool. Soc. ix. p. 238 ; David et Oust. Ois. 

 Chine, p. 444 ; Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 1169 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 484. 



Description. Adult male. Forehead, crown and a long occipital crest 

 purplish black ; sides of the head and the whole of the back of the neck 

 chestnut ; back, rump, wing-coverts, scapulars and tertiaries dull chestnut, 

 closely barred with narrow wavy black lines ; winglet black, broadly tipped 

 with white ; the first two or three primary-coverts black tipped with white, 

 the others chestnut tipped with white ; primaries slaty black tipped with 

 white and with a subterminal patch of chestnut, the white decreasing and 

 the chestnut increasing from the first primary to the others ; secondaries 

 broadly rufous near the tips and narrowly tipped with white ; upper tail- 



