Plate XCII. 



TIGRISOMA FASCIATUM. 



(BANDED TIGEE-BITTERN). 



Ardea fasciata . . . Such, Zool. Journ. ii. p. 117 (1825). 



„ „ ... Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 662. 



Ardea lineata . . . Mas. Beitr. iv. p. 634 (1833). 



Schlegel, Mus. d. Pay3-Bas, Ardets, p. 53. 



j» jj 



Supra seneo-Bigricans, rufescente transfaseiolatum : alis caudaque schiataceo-nigris albo terminatls, et, praecipue in 

 pogouiis interioribus, fasciis interruptis albis transTittatis : raandibula nuda, sed ad basin, linea e plumis albis composita 

 ^ }i / partim occupatj^ : gula media plumosa, alba, lateraliter utrii^quo nuda : cervice antica ayguste alba, obscuro ockraceo ?t-/ 



/ flammulata : abdomine ocbraceo ; bypochondriis efc tectricibus alarum inferioribus nigricanti-scbistaciis, albo trans- ' -^y 



fasciatis : campterio et margine alari externo albia : roatro fusco-nigro, mandibulie margine inferiore flavido : pedibus / 



nigricantibua : long, tota 27'0, alse 13"0, caudae 5"8, rostri a rictu 4'8 ( tarsi 3"6 / digiti medii cum ungue 3'0. Avis 



^ / hornotina, supri{ cinnamomeo-rufa, nigro transfasciata ; subttis albescens cianamomeo tinct^, et nigro minus confertim 



cc/ / i/ transfasciat^, gula et ventre medio immaculatiis. 



' ' Ilab. In Brasilia orient, merid. 



In general habit, as Wagler lias already observed, tbis Tiger-bittern is closely allied to the 

 well-known Tigrisoma hrasilienseJ oi tropical America ; but, besides tbe general difference of 

 the adult plumage, there is a well-marked structural character, which renders it easily recogni- 

 zable in every age and sex. This is a small patch of feathers which occupies the basal portion 

 of the otherwise naked mandible, and advances forwards beyond the gape. Immediately 

 below this patch lies the naked space/ which borders the throat on each side, and / leaves only a 

 narrow median line covered by feathers. In T. hvasilienseJ the lateral portions of the throat 

 are lUiewise bare/ and the middle portion feathered. But in the latter species/ the whole of the 

 side of the mandible is denuded of feathersAip toy and even beyondythe gape ; so that the bare 

 portion of the mandible is perfectly continuous with the denuded space on either side of the 

 throat. 



In the adult dress these two Tiger-bitterns are likewise very easil}^ distinguishable in 

 plumage, the present species shewing no trace whatever of the rich chestnut head and neck of 

 T. hrasiliense. The transverse markings of the upper plumage in the present bird are also 

 coarser and further apart. 



The immature dress of T.fasciatum is veiy like that of its well-known ally, as figured in 

 the Planches Enluminees of Buffon (No. 790/ under the name " L'Honore de Cayenne," but, 

 judging from the single specimen before us,(i^is rather blacker above, and may at all events be 



[ 183 J 



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