ARDEIEALLA CINNAMOMEA. 1163 



In this very handsome stage the ground-colour of the upper surface is likewise subject to variation, some examples 



being more cinnamon-coloured than others. 

 At the next moult the upper surface becomes more uniform, the edgings disappear, and also the stripes on the neck 



and under surface, leaving in the nearly adult bird a brownish line down the centre of the fore neck, which seems 



in but few cases to disappear altogether. 



Ohs. In a series of adults from China and Formosa most examples have traces of the dark stripe down the fore neck ; 

 the hue of the back and wings is the same as in Ceylonese birds. An Amoy specimen is a good deal tinged with 

 ashy on the head and back ; but this is a point in which Ceylon birds vary. Immature birds in first plumage 

 exhibit variations as above noticed. 



Distribution. — This remarkably-plumaged Bittern is very abundant in Ceylon, being spread over all low- 

 country marshes, paddy-fields, and swamps, and ranges into the hills to an altitude of more than 4000 feet, at 

 which it has been procured near Banderawella by Mr. S. Bligh. Although widely distributed, it is more 

 abundant in the west and in the damp parts of the south of the island than in the north. It is essentially 

 a grass-frequenting bird in Ceylon, and is consequently for the most part restricted to the districts under rice- 

 cultivation, and to moist places and swamps which afford it cover. In the north it is found mostly about 

 rushy tanks. It is the commonest of its group about Colombo, frequenting the "water-grass" fields and 

 swampy fern-brakes in the cinnamon-gardens. In the Km-unegala district and in the Seven Korales, as also 

 about tanks in the Anaradhapura district, it is common. 



The Chestnut Bittern appears to be distributed sparingly throughout the south of India. As regards the 

 north-west of the empire, it has only been found in Ajmere by Major St. John and in Sindh by Messrs. 

 Butler and Doig. Mr. Hume writes that it occurs sparingly in the Punjab, Cis-Sutledge, and in the upper 

 portions of the North-west Provinces west of the Ganges, but only as a visitor during the wet season ; he also 

 obtained it in the Delhi, Meerut, Alleghur, Mynpooree, and Etawah districts, but has never seen it from the 

 Central Provinces, the Punjab, Rajpootana, Guzerat, Kutch, or Kattiawar. In the district between the Ganges 

 and the Godaveri Mr. Ball met with it but once in the State of Udipur ; but about Calcutta it breeds freely, 

 writes Mr. Hume ; in Furreedpore it is common, and to Cachar it is a visitant in June. In Upper Pegu it 

 has not been noticed, but it inhabits the lower part of the province and breeds there ; and in Tenasserim it 

 was obtained by Captain Wardlaw Ramsay on the west of the Sittang, and is common in the southern districts. 

 Further south it has been met with at Malacca. Mr. Hume obtained it at Tellangchong, in the Nicobars, 

 and in the island of Preparis. It extends westward to China, where it was first discovered, visiting that 

 empire in summer, and ranging northwards to Mantchuria and Amoor Land, where Schrenck found it 

 breeding near the village of Dawunda, on the left bank of the Amoor. It has also been found in Japan, 

 although it is not recorded by Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer. Turning southwards we find it occurring in 

 Formosa in summer, and recorded from the Philippines by Schlegel and Von Martens ; and Mr. Everett 

 has lately procured it in Luzon in February. In the Malay archipelago it has been met with in Sumatra, 

 Java, and Borneo, in the latter island in the Banjermassing district. Governor Ussher records it from Labuan. 



Habits. — The Chestnut Bittern prefers long grass, standing paddy, or rushes near water to swampy 

 brushwood or even tall reeds. It is consequently invariably found in the paddy-fields in Ceylon as soon as 

 the grain is a good height ; to the fields of water-grass, cultivated near towns in the Western Province for 

 horse-fodder, it is also very partiaL It is not a shy bird, generally getting up from its retreat when you are 

 within a few paces of it ; it then flies off with a guttural but not loud cruah, sometimes rising pretty high 

 in the air and making the circuit of the field before alighting, at other times flying a few yards just above the 

 grass and realighting. It drops the legs and erects the head slightly to check its progress on alighting. It feeds 

 in the afternoon after three o'clock, for it may be seen flying about of its own accord long before evening sets 

 in. I have rarely seen it at the edge of streams ; but in India it is said to affect reed-beds and brushwood on 

 rivers, coming out to feed in the morning and evening, and keeping quiet during the day ; and, according to 

 Mr. Davison, whose remarks I here quote, it is very shy, betaking itself on the least alarm to dense cover, 

 from which it is very difficult to dislodge it. When wounded it fights vigorously, darting out its open bill 



7 K 



