ARDETD.E. 



383 



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. II, p. 753; Murray's 

 Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 273. 



THE BLACK BITTERN. 

 Kola 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, 



