192 A FIRST LIST OF THE 



" Irides, pale red ; eyelids, bluish ; bill and skin of face, a dingy 

 rufous chocolate, blackish on culmen and paler on terminal half 

 of lower mandible ; legs, feet, and claws, black." 



934.— Ardetta sinensis, Gmel. 



A single specimen was obtained by Mr. Oates at Thayetmyo 

 in August. 



937.— Nyctiardea nycticorax, Lin. 



Mr. Oates remarks : " Last Christmas there were immense 

 numbers of this species in the bushes bordering the Engmah 

 Swamp. I shot a good many, and they were all exactly the same 

 as the specimens now sent. On going there again last June and 

 July, not one was to be seen ; it is very curious that all the birds 

 I saw at Christmas were young ones. I did not shoot or see a 

 single one without the white spots on the wing/'' 



The specimens sent are certainly the young of this species, 

 and it is curious that Mr. Oates should have met with none but 

 young birds ; however, it is nothing uncommon for the young 

 of migratory birds to travel in flocks by themselves without any 

 adults. With us, in India, the Night Heron is everywhere, as 

 far as I know, a permanent resident. 



Later Mr. Oates writes to me : " I have now ascertained 

 that this bird is pretty common and a permanent resident, but I 

 have never met with it since in such immense numbers as I did 

 at Engmah in December/'' 



939.— Anastomus oscitans, Bodd. 



Mr. Oates has sent a head only of this species ; it is, he says, 

 " a rare bird in Upper Pegu." 



943.— Ibis falcinellus, Lin. 



Captain Feilden says : " I also shot the Glossy Ibis, but I 

 do not think it is common." 



Mr. Oates writes : " I once saw a large flock of what must 

 have been this species flying high and out of shot." 



950.— Sarkidiornis melanonotus, Tem. 



Mr. Oates says : " Common in the Engmah Swamp in large 

 flocks ; feeds a good deal on young paddy. I lately saw one in 

 captivity ; it continually dived from one end to the other of its 

 tank, some fifty feet in length." 



951— Nettapus coromandus, Lin. 



Mr. Oates says : " This species is very common." 



