44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



IXOBRYCHUS SINENSIS BRYANI (Scale) 



Ardetta bryani Seale, Occ. Pap. B. P. Bishop Mus., vol. i, No. 3, 1901, p. 27. 

 (Guam.) 



Guam Island: Pagat Point — i female, July lo; Oca Point — i male, 

 August 4; Sinajana — i unsexed. May i6; Ylig Bay — i female, July 

 24 ; Facpi Point — i female, July 27 ; Talofofo Bay — i female, June 

 14; Agfayan Bay — i male, 2 females, June 4, 6, July 8; Port Ajayan 

 — I male, i female, June 18; Achang Bay — 5 males, 6 females, i 

 juvenile male, June 6, 7, 19, July 16; Umatac Bay — 2 males, i female, 

 I juvenile male, 2 juvenile females, June 18. 



There seems to be very little difference between these specimens 

 and least bitterns from China and adjacent areas. Some of the adult 

 males from Guam, taken in June and July, are paler on the back, 

 although this may be due to wear. Adult males from Guam have a 

 slightly longer wing and tail than those of birds from China, Siam, 

 Okinawa, and the Philippines. Measurements of birds from Guam, 

 /. .s". bryani, and from China, Siam, Okinawa, and the Philippines, 

 /. .9. sinensis (Gmelin), are as follows: 



IxobrychnS S. bryani: Wing Tail culmen Tarsus 



9 adult males (Guam)... 128-138(134) 45-SO (4?) 55-6o (57) 45-47(46) 

 II adult females (Guam). 125-134 (130) 44-49 (47) 55-59 (57) 43-47 (45) 



Ixobrychus s. sinensis: 



II adult males 119-134(128) 41-48(44) 56-62(59) 43-46(44) 



Bitterns were found on tidal flats and in fresh-water marshes at 

 Guam, At Rota, birds were less numerous. A nest containing two 

 eggs was collected at Achang Bay, Guam, on June 6. It was located 

 in a cane thicket near a fallow rice field. The eggs are oval, white 

 with a greenish cast, and measure 33 by 24 and 34 by 24. A nestling 

 was found in thick shrubbery at Oca Point on February i. Birds 

 taken in June, August, and September were in molt. Weights of 

 eight adult males from Guam are 82-103 (92), of eight adult females 

 84-109 (95). 



IXOBRYCHUS SINENSIS MOOREI Wetmore 



Ixobrychus sinensis moorei Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 6^, 1919, p. 

 "^yZ- (Uala, Truk Group, Middle Carolines.) 



McElroy found bitterns in rice paddies at Truk. Specimens col- 

 lected were lost in shipment. The species was apparently rare in the 

 southern Palaus ; our collecting party worked over these islands 

 rather thoroughly and saw only one bird on September 13 at Peleliu. 



