Birds of Celebes: Ardeidae. ^(Jl 



feed in the morning and evening, keeping quiet during the day; he has, how- 

 ever, seen it about long before evening. It seems to have its nearest affinities 

 with Ardetta eurhythma, the preceding species; when adult A. cinnamomea is very 

 different in ajipearance, but in second plumage they are not so easy to distin- 

 guish; the cinnamon-rufous remiges and longer toes of A. cinnamomea then afford 

 the best criterion for their separation. 



That the Cinnamon Bittern breeds in Celebes is shown by the young bird 

 described above from Dr. Platen; it was killed on May 3P', and looks as if 

 it might have left the nest a fortnight before. Eggs have been described from 

 Java and the Philippines. In China, however, and in the N. W. Provinces of 

 India the bird is known as a seasonal visitant from the observations of David, 

 Styan, De La Touche, and Hume, and it is probable that this movement 

 may be felt as far south as Celebes. So far as is at present known this island 

 and Lombok mark the limits of its range towards the south-east. 



GENUS XANTHOCNUS Sliarpe. 



Structurally very like Ardetta, also with 10 tail-feathers, differing chiefly 

 by its larger size, the absence of "epaulets" or tufts of feathers with broad black 

 centres on the sides of the breast, and by the long, loose plumage of the sides 

 of the neck and jugulum. 



-i 365. XANTHOCNUS FLAVICOLLIS (Lath.). 

 Yellow-necked Bittern. 



The following references bear upon the occurrence of this species in the 

 Celebesian Province: 



a. Ardea flavicollis (1) Finsch, Neu-Guinea 1865, 183; (2) Brligg , Abb. Ver. Bremen 



1876, V, 97; (3) W. Bias., .J. f. 0. 1883, 116, 121. 



b. Ardetta flavicollis (1) Rchw., J. f. 0. 1877, 218. 



c. Ardeiralla flavicollis (1) Salvad., Orn. Pap. 1882, lU, 364; (2) Meyer, Isis, Dresden 



1884, 6, 57; (3) W. Bias., Z. ges. Orn. 1885, 321; (4) id., Ornis 1888, 632, 643; 

 (5) Biitt., Zool. Erg. Weber's Reise 1893, IH, 284; (6) M. & Wg., J. f. 0. 1894, 253. 



d. ArdeiraUus flavicollis (1) Sharpe, Ibis 1894, 427. 

 Xanthocnus') flavicollis (1) Sharpe, Ibis 1894, 431. 



e. Dupetor flavicollis (1) Sharpe, Cat. B. 1898, XXVI, 247. 

 ••Baletagi", Talaut Is. — Kabruang and Lirung, Nat. Coll. c 6. 



For further synonymy and references to the species and its races cf. Salvadori c 1\ 



Sharpe e 1. 

 Figures and descriptions. Gray & Hardwicke, Bl. Ind. Orn. pL 66, f. 2 (India); Gould, 



B. AustraHa VI, pi. 65 (Australia); Salvadori cl (Papuasia and Moluccas); Legge, 



1, We do not think Dr. Sharpe (Bull. B. 0. C. XXXI; Ibis 189ti, 256) should have rejected Ms name 

 Xanthocius for Dupetor of Heine (Nomencl. 1890,308), which is a nomen nudum intended as a substitute 

 for Ardeiralla Verr. 



