Tigrisoma cahanisi 



Ardea 



cahanisi 



Tigrisoma tigrinum 



)» 



)j 



3) 



» 



53 





Plate XLYIII. 



TIGRISOMA CABANISL 



(CABANIS' TIGEK=BITTERN), 



Heine, Joum. f. Orn. 1859, p. 407. 

 .... SgM. Mus. d. P. B. ^r&^, p. 51. 



. Scl. P.Z.S. 1858, p. 359 ; 1860, p. 253. 

 Moore, P.Z.S. 1859, p. 63. 

 Taylor, Ibis, 1859, p. 151. 

 Sci. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 226. 

 Salv. Ibis, 1865, p. 191. 



Supra Jnigrieanti-olivaceus, fulvescente faseiolatus : pileo nigro, capitis lateribus cinereis : alis caudaque 

 cceriilescenti-nigris, primarus albo terminatis :?subtus gutture toto nudo, cervice at pectore nigricantibus siciit in dorso, 

 sed latius fulvescente transfasciolatis ; cervice media (utrinque nigro marginata) cum abdomine toto fulvescenti-rufis ; 

 rostro nigricante, bujus basi viridescenti-flavo, pedibus obscure olivaceis : long, tota 2S'0, alae 14-0, caudas 6'0, tarsi 4'4, 

 rostri a rictu 5'5. — Junior. Supra omnino fulvo et nigricante transradiatus, alis caudaque plumbeo-nigricantibus albo 

 transfasciatis ; subtiis dilutior, sordiEo ciunamomeo et nigro transfasciatus, fasciis in ventre latioribus et minus 

 frequentibus. 



J3«J. in Mexico meridional! ; Guatemala et Honduras. 



This Bittern has, until recently, been confounded with its southern representative Tigrisoma 

 brasilwnse, from which, however, it may be at once distinguished by its wholly bare throat, 

 a character which is possessed by no other American representative of the genus. In addition 

 to this there are conspicuous differences between the plumages of the two species^ the head in 

 the present bhd being black instead of rufous, and the whole upper plumage generally of a 

 darker character, while the abdomen is dark cmnamomeous instead of rufous-grey, and wantg 

 the black and white mai-ks on the flanks. In short, the differences between the two allies are 

 so conspicuous that it would not be possible to confound them on comparison. Such then being- 

 its distinguishing characters, it is strange, indeed, that this species should have been mistaken 

 for T. hrasiliense^ yet most authors who have mentioned the Central American bird, have 

 assigned to it the name of T. tigrinum^ under which the young of T. hrasiliense has been usually 

 denominated. Herr Ferdinand Heine, Junior, was the first to discover this mistake, and in 

 the "Journal fiir Ornithologie" for the year 1859, described and named the northern species 

 after Dr. J. Cabanis, his coadjutor in the latter portion of the well known work the " Museum 

 Heineanum." This name is adopted by Dr. Schlegel, as quoted above. 



[95] 



