136 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



is hard to say, but he certainly has a very wide range 

 being found over most of the world. The Paddy- bird is 

 purely Indian and Burmese, and is so very common that 

 he is one of the characteristic birds of the country. In 

 Burma and the Andamans, however, he meets a slightly 

 larger relative, who wears the same winter dress, but in 

 summer plumage has a maroon ruff and slate back. This 

 bird has been unkindly named Ardeola bacchus ; but I am 

 not aware that its behaviour justifies the appellation, 

 although another member of the heron family, the Malay 

 Bittern (Gorsachius melanolophus), was once captured in 

 Ceylon in a disgraceful state of intoxication owing to 

 indulgence in toddy. 



