Birds of Celebes: Ardeidae. 



815 



white ; a blackish plait-Uke stripe clo\vn the middle of fore-neck for ca. 1/3 its length ; 

 breast and under-parts smoke grey, with a fulvous tint on the abdomen, most of 

 the feathers with white shaft-streaks; "iris gold-yellow" (P.& F. Sarasin); legs and 

 feet in the skin leaden blackish, bill blackish, the tip, under surface and base of 

 lower mandible yellowish (ad., Banka Id., Minahassa, 20. V. 93: Nat. Coll. — 

 C 12117). 

 Immature. Browner and less dark slaty than the adult; the lanceolate whitish feathers of 

 the occipital crest and lower neck httle developed, only one or two present on the 

 scapulars; wing-coverts fulvous brown; neck and under-parts fulvous brown, varied 

 with slaty and with white centre-streaks (juv., Banka, 16. V. 93: Nat. Coll. — 12118). 



Measurements. 



Exp. 

 culmen 



a. (0 12117) ad., Banka Id., 20. V. 93 (Nat. Coll.) . 500 185 175 125 174 

 fc. (0 14145) ad., Lembehld., 10. m. 95 (iid.) . . 495 190 168 120 168 



c. (Sarasin Coll.) vix ad., near Lembeh Id., 27. Vn. 92 455 165 165 115 160 



d. (C 885) ad., Siao (Meyer) 475 185 160 115 170 



e. (C 12629) vix ad., Siao, July 93 (Nat. Coll.) . . 470 170 165 120 167 



f. (C 12118) juv., Banka, 16. V. 93 (iid.) .... 460 160 158 120 155 

 Eggs and nest. "The nest observed by Gilbert was built in an upright fork of a large and 



lofty Mekileuca at about eighty feet from the ground, and was formed of an outer 

 layer of very strong sticks, with a few small twigs as a lining, and contained two 

 eggs of a light ash-grey" (Gould h II, 2). 

 Distribution. Arrakan (Blyth 12); Tenasserim (Davison 7); Cochin China (Tiraud 12]\ 

 Malay Peninsula (Hume 8, Kelham 10); Simiatra (Raffles 1, Hagen 26); Billiton 

 (Brit. Mus. 33); N.Borneo (Everett, etc. 22); Palawan (Whitehead 19, Platen 

 20); Sangi Is. — Siao (Meyer 15, 20, Nat. Coll.); Celebes: — (Reinwardt a 2), 

 Banka Id. and Lembeh Id. fNat. Coll.), Minahassa (P.& F. Sarasin 32), Gorontalo 

 Distr. (Rosenberg a 3, a 4, c 2, Riedel 5, 17); Java (Vorderman a 6); Flores 

 (Wallace 11)^ Tunor (S. Miiller 11); Timorlaut (H. 0. Forbes 13, 14); Moluccas — 

 Morty, Halmahera, Batchian (fide Salvadori 11); Goram (Wallace 33); Papuasia 

 — Waigiou (Platen 16), New Guinea, Mysore, Aru (fide Salvadori 11); North & 

 East Austraha (Gould 2, Ramsay 18). 



In the long list of Herons occurring in Celebes the present species is easily 

 recognised by its great size, and by its general coloration of slate-grey, with 

 ashy white hackle-feathers in the occipital crest, on the neck and jugulum and 

 among the scapulars. Its nearest affinities are with Ardea ajfinis Hodgs. of the 

 inland parts of N. India below the Himalayas, and N. Burmah; this form, as 

 shown by Mr. Hume (1), diflFers in having the under-parts white (not dark grey), 

 and in other points. Davison found Ardea sumatrana about the sea-coast and 

 the mouths of the large creeks and rivers in South Tenasserim; Kelham de- 

 scribes it as plentiful among the jheels and paddy-swamps of Perak; it seems 

 not to wander far inland from the sea-coast, and in N. Celebes, judging from 

 the number of specimens examined by us, it would seem to be more plentiful 

 on the small islands off the coast than elsewhere. Its food was ascertained by 

 Davison to be small fish, crabs, etc. 



« Measured over the wing. When measm-ed straight under the wing the length is about 30 mm less. 



