Birds of Celebes: Aideidae. §55 



"Irides yellow; legs and beak pale yellowish green, the latter dusky on its 

 ridge" (Kelham 9). 



Female. The female has the black of the head restricted to the middle of the crown and 

 nape, the sides of crown pale chestnut and the feathers of forehead broadly edged 

 with the same; a plait-stripe of pale rufous down the middle of the throat; wing- 

 coverts less clear buff (Q, Tomohon, 22. IV. 94: Sarasin Coll.). 



Young. Differs fi-om the adult in having the feathers of head above chestnut-red with blackish 

 centre-streaks, those of back dark brown with tawny-buff edgings; wing-coverts buff 

 with dark centre-streaks; under parts streaked with brown, on throat and breast with 

 orange-rufous (Tondano, Aug.— Sept. 1892 — C 10982). 



Measurements (6 adults from Celebes). Wing 125— 136 mm; tail 41— 46; tarsus c. 46; middle 

 toe with claw c. 47 — 50; exposed culmen c. 49 — 53. 



Eggs. "East Indian eggs are faint blue, and measure 29 X 24 mm" (Nehrkorn MS.). See, 

 also, Hume 18. 



Nest. In a tussock of grass, or bunch of reeds, or platform of rushes (Doig 18). 



Distribution. Askold Id., S. E. Sibeiia (Jankowski 24); Japan (Blakiston & Pryer d2f. 

 Marianne Is. (Quoy & Gaimard 22)\ Pelew and Caroline Is. (Ivubary 22); China 

 (Swinhoe S, David 5, etc.); Formosa (Swinhoe S); Cochin Cliina (Germain c 2); 

 India (Blyth, etc. 7, 8, 18); Ceylon (Legge, etc. 7); Andamans and Nicobars (Hume, 

 Str. F. n, 311); Bm-mah (Gates 11); Tenasserim (Davison 6); Perak and Singapore 

 (Kelham 9); Sumatra (Davison 7, Modigliani 20); Nias (Modigliani 14); Java 

 (Horsfield 8, Vorderman 13); Borneo (Schwaner, Everett 10 1; Phihppines 

 (Leschenault 8, Bourns & Worcester 26); Sooloo (Guillem. 12); N.Celebes: — 

 Minahassa (Fischer a 4, Faber in Dresd. Mus., etc.), Gorontalo (Meyer 3 in 

 Dresd. Mus., Rosenberg b 2, etc.); Flores (Wallace 8); Timor (fide Heine & 

 Reichenow ir'"); Moluccas — Ternate (Rosenb. 8); Amboina (Beccari 8); Coram 

 (Wallace 28); New Britain (Finsch S ; Austraha (Brit. Mus., Cockerell 25,28); 

 Seychelles (E.Newton, Lantz c 2). 



Specimens of the Little Yellow Bittern from Celebes are somewhat rare 

 in collections, perhaps rather on account of the difficulty of shooting it among 

 the scrub and reeds of its marshy haunts than by reason of its actual scarcity 

 in the island. So far it has been recorded only from (or near) the two large 

 lakes of the Northern Peninsula, Tondano and Limbotto. There is reason to 

 suppose that it breeds there, as it has been killed in summer, viz. at Limbotto 

 in July by Meyer, at Tondano in August or September by our native collectors. 

 But in China the bird is only a summer visitor, and it is probable that in its 

 winter migrations it may reach Celebes. It has been found on such far distant 

 islands as the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, and the Mariannes and Carolines 

 in the Pacific, a result most likely due to straggling during its migrations. 



Ardetta sinensis has its strongest affinities with the Little Bittern of Europe 

 and Western Asia, A. minuta, and the latter's geographical representatives, 

 A. pusilla (V.) of Australia and New Zealand, A. podicipes Bp. of S. Africa and 

 Madagascar, A. exilis (Gm.) of N. America, and A. erythromelas (V.) of S. America; 

 but these forms difi'er from it conspicuously in having the back black. Ardetta 

 cinnamomea and A. euiythma, which occur in Celebes with the present species, 

 may be distinguished from it at all ages by their having the first joint of the 



