VISCOUNT WALDBN ON THE BIRDS OF CELEBES. 99 



plate, Mr. Blyth (Ibis, 1865, p. 38) called the Indian bird leucoptera, Bodd., and that 

 of the Malayan peninsula and Sumatra malaccensis, Gm. 



Herodias, Boie. 



171. Herodias nigripes (Temm.), Man. d'Orn. 2nd edit, part iv. p. 376, " L'Archipel 



des Indes" (1840); Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Ardece, p. 14, "Lac de Gorontalo, 

 Celebes." 



Not possessing a sufficient number of examples of H. garzetta (Linn.) and its allies 

 to attempt an elucidation of its races, their habitats, and synonymy, I have followed 

 Temminck, and given to the Celebean bird the title by which the Dutch zoologist 

 distinguished the little Egret of India, of the Malay archipelago, and of New Guinea, 

 from the European, North Asiatic, and Japanese bird. Professor Schlegel [l. c.) does 

 not admit their specific distinction, and includes all under A. garzetta, Linn. To him 

 we owe the important fact that Temminck founded his A. nign'pes on examples from 

 Java, Borneo, and Celebes now in the Leyden Museum. We are thus provided with a 

 clue to the maze of confusion into which Prince Bonaparte (Consp. ii.) has thrown the 

 synonymy of the White Egrets (conf. Schlegel, op. cit. p. 19). 



172. Herodias egretta (Gm.), Syst. Nat. ed. 13, i. p. 629 (1788), ex Buff. Hist. Nat. 



Ois. vii. p. 377, "America;" Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Ardece, p. 17. 



Hob. Gorontalo (Forsten). 



I adopt Professor Schlegel's determination with reserve, its correctness depending on 

 the identity of the Asiatic with the American bird. The Celebean example is probably 

 the H. alba (L.), ap. Jerd. (Birds of India), ^A. modesfa. Gray & Hardw., A. alba 

 vera being resti-icted by Professor Schlegel to Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and 

 Western Asia. The history of the Egrets has yet to be written. 



Ardetta, G. R. Gray. 



173. Ardetta sinensis (Gm.), Syst. Nat. ed. 13, i. p. 642 (1788), ex Lath., " China." 



Ardea melanoptera, Cuvier, Mus. Paris. Puch. ; Rev. Mag. Zool. 1851, p. 575. 



melanophis, Cuv., ap. Less. Tr. p. 573, errore. 



lepida^ Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 190, " Java." 



melanotis, Cuv., ap. G. R. Gray, Genera, iii. Append, p. 25, errore. 



Hah. Menado {mus. nostr.) ; all India {Jerdon) ; Java {Horsf.) ; Ceylon, Arracan 

 {Blyth) ; China, from Canton to Tientsin, Formosa, in summer {Swinhoe) ; Borneo, 

 Philippines {Mm. Lugd.); Ladrone or Marian Isles (■?) {G. B. Gray). 



I cannot concur with Mr. Blyth nor with Dr. Jerdon in regarding Ardea nebulosa, 

 Horsf. {I. c), as belonging to this species, Horsfield's diagnosis applies far better to 

 Ardetta ciimamomea {Gm.). The expression ^^ cauda remigibusque badiis" appears to 

 me conclusive. 



q2 



