478 MR. E. W. H. HOLDSWORTH ON CEYLONESE BIRDS. [Mar. 5, 



cimens of one species at Nuwara Eliya, in October, with a black 

 bill and greenish feet, probably H. garzetta ; but these birds are 

 mostly found in the low country. They appear to be all widely 

 distributed. 



280. Ardeola grayii, Sykes. 

 Ardeola leucoptera, Bodd., apud Jerdon. 

 Exceedingly common in Ceylon. 



281. Btjtorides javanica, Horsf. 



Common, and resident in the north. I have occasionally seen it 

 near Colombo. 



Bill black above, yellow below ; irides yellow ; feet yellow-green. 

 Ceylon, India, Burmah to Malaya, China. 



282. Ardetta flavicollis, Lath. 



283. Ardetta cinnamomea, Gmel. 



284. Ardetta sinensis, Gmel. 



Of these three species A. cinnamomea is the commonest. They 

 appear to be confined to the southern half of the island, and are all 

 found in the neighbourhood of Colombo. They range from India 

 more or less eastward. 



285. Nycticorax griseus, Linn. 



Not uncommon in suitable places. 

 Asia, Africa, Europe. 



286. Goisachius melanolophus, Raffles. 



I was fortunate in getting a specimen of this purely eastern 

 Bittern at Aripo, in November 1866; it was hiding among some 

 low bushes a few yards from my house, and was a female in imma- 

 ture plumage. My shot disabled but did not kill it, and it struck 

 at me furiously with its bill as I endeavoured to extricate it from 

 among the thorns, the neck-feathers being erected in true Bittern 

 fashion. Layard first observed this species in Ceylon, and obtained 

 two or three specimens near Colombo. It is remarkable that this 

 common Malay species should not yet have been observed in India, 

 as the birds obtained by Layard and myself (no others are recorded 

 from Ceylon) were all found on the west coast, and my specimen was 

 from that part of the coast where migrants from India generally ap- 

 pear first. 



Ceylon, Malaya, Japan, Philippines. 



287. Tantalus leucocephalus, Forster. 

 Ceylon, India, Burmah, Amoy. 



288. Platalea leucorodia, Linn. 

 Asia, Africa, Europe. 



