ARDEIRALLA CINNAMOMEA. 



(THE CHESTNUT BITTERN.) 



Ardea cinnamomea, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 643 (1788) ; Gray & Hardwicke, 111. Ind. Zool. 



pi. 66. fig. 1 (1830-34); Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 622 (1875). 

 Ardetta cinnamomea (Gm.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 282 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. & 



Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 113; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 755 (1804); Holdsw. 



P. Z. S. 1872, p. 478 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 30, et 1875, p. 404 ; Salvadori, Uccelli di 



Borneo, p. 354 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 311, et 1879, p. 114 (List B. of Ind.) ; 



David & Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 447. 

 Cinnamon Heron, Latham; Le Blongios cannelle, French. Lai bagla, Hind.; Khyri 



bogla, Bengal. ; Ayaman, Java (Horsf.) ; Burong kaladi, Sumatra (Raffles). Kuruttu 



Koku, Ceylonese Tamils. 

 Metti Icorowalca, Sinhalese. 



Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 14'5 to 15 - inches ; wing 5*3 to 5"75 ; tail 1/6 to 1/8 ; tarsus l - 8 to l - 95 ; 

 middle toe (without claw) 1"7 to 1*8, claw (straight) 0*38 ; bare tibia 0*5 ; bill to gape 2-45 to 2-6, at front 1-85. 

 The tibia, in proportion to its length, is less feathered than in A. flavicollis ; claws short, middle very finely pec- 

 tinated. 



Male (Furreedpore). Wing 5-75 to 6-08 inches ; tarsus 2-08; bill to gape 2-8 : weight 5-37 to 578 oz. (Cripps). — 

 Male (Nicobars). Length 15 - 5 inches ; wing 5 - 7 ; tarsus 1*7 ; bill at front 2-1 (Hume). — Adult (Formosa : coll. 

 Swinhoe). Wing 5-7 to 6'0 ; tarsus 1-2 to 2-0 ; middle toe and claw 2-3; bill at front 1-9 to 2-1. 



Iris pale golden yellow, in some with a few specks of brown ; orbital skin greenish yellow ; bill yellow, the culmen 

 dark brown ; legs and feet dusky greenish yellow, the tibia greener than the tarsus ; soles, sides of toes, and 

 posterior part of tarsus yellow ; claws dark brown. 



Head, hind neck, and all above chestnut, a tinge of ashy on the head and crest, and the wing-coverts paler than the 

 rest ; shafts of quills black ; throat, fore neck, chest, and under surface yellowish rufescent, darkening to chestnut 

 on the flanks, and with nearly always a brown stripe down the centre of the lower fore neck ; a white stripe at 

 each side of the gorge running backwards past the ear-coverts ; pectoral plumes with yellowish-fulvous edgings. 

 The " powder-down " tracts are well developed in this species. 



Nestling, just fledged (Ceylon). Bill togapel - 9 inch, tarsus 1/7. Forehead and crown olive-black ; nape, hind neck, inter- 

 scapulars, scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, and tertials rich dark brown, the feathers narrowly edged with rufous on 

 the occiput, and elsewhere broadly margined with rufous buff, with a blackish inner edge ; quills cinnamon-red, 

 as in the adult ; back and tail still in down (brownish, tipped with white) ; chin and throat whitish, with dark 

 buff-edged centres, which widen on the chest and breast, the ground-colour there being rich buff instead of white ; 

 abdomen buffy white ; thighs buff, the feathers centred with brown. 



After this nestling-plumage is put off, and the dress of the first year assumed, considerable variation exists in the 

 amount and lightness of the pale markings of the upper surface, and the dark coloration of the throat and under 

 surface. The following is a description of a December example from the Colombo district : — 



Iris yellow, with a dark spot across it ; bill with the upper mandible and margin of the lower black, a dark stripe 

 extending back to the eye ; legs and feet green ; toes dusky ; soles yellow. Upper surface generally dark ferru- 

 ginous brown, the basal portions of the feathers being reddish, while the marginal parts are brown, edged on the 

 hind neck, back, and scapulars with buff-yellow, and deeply margined and indented on the wing-coverts with the 

 same ; quills, wiuglet, major coverts, rump, tail, and underlying tertials dull cinnamon, the winglet and coverts 

 edged and indented with buff, and adjacently shaded with blackish ; quill-shafts blackish and basal part of 

 inner webs dark slate ; forehead and crown ashy black ; fore neck and under surface buff, boldly dashed, chiefly 

 on one web, with rich dark sepia-brown, which down the central portion is edged with rufous, and runs up in a 

 stripe to the chin ; sides of abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts buff, with narrow dark mesial lines ; under 

 wing-coverts fulvous yellow, with slaty centres. 



