PILHEEODIUS.— TIGEISOMA. 177 



Pure albus, dorso alisque clare griseo lavatia ; pileo cristato nigro, plumis nuchalibus albis ornamentalibus 

 valde productis ; fronte cinerea ; facie laterali, coUo undique, et corpore subtus toto lacteseenti-albis ; loris 

 et regions oculari nudis et rostro pulcbre cyaneis, hujus apice viridescente ; pedibus plumbescenti-cinereis ; 

 iride viridescenti-cinerea. Long, tota circa 23'0, ate 10-9, caudee 3-75, culm. 3-4, tarsi 3-4. (Descr. 

 maris adulti ex Eio de Janeiro. Mus. Brit.) 



5 mari similis, sed notseo albo baud griseo adumbrato; plumis nuchalibus brevioribus. Long, tota circa 22-0, 

 alffi 10-2. (Descr. feminse adultse ex Britisb Guiana. Mus. Brit.) 



Hah. Panama {M^Leannan *). — South America, from Guiana to Amazonia and Brazil " ''. 



Though rare in collections, P. pileatus has a wide distribution in South America, 

 and would appear to be by no means uncommon in Brazil and on the savanas of 

 Guiana. According to Prince Maximilian of Neuwied, this Heron is only found in 

 Brazil in the streams of the larger forests, where it is met with singly and appears to 

 be very shy. During the nesting-time the birds are found in pairs on the banks 

 of streams and brooks in the woods, especially on the stony shores or sand-bank 

 where rocks and waterfalls occur. They have been observed perching on high trees, 

 in which they also nest. The food and habits are otherwise like those of the ordinary 

 European species. 



The eggs do not appear to have been described. 



TIGRISOMA. 



Tigrisoma, Swains. Zool. Journ. iii. p. 362 (1828) ; Ridgw. Bull. U. S. Geol. & Geogr. Surv. iv. 



p. 224 (1878) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvi. p. 193 (1898). 

 Heterocnus, Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, v. p. xiv (1895) ; Cat. Birds Brit, Mus. xxvi. 



pp. 198, 281. 



The American Tiger-Bitterns belong, according to Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, to the same 

 section of the Ardeidse as the Night-Herons, but they differ from the latter in having 

 the mandibles serrated and the subterminal notch nearly obsolete. The throat is 

 entirely bare or only feathered in the centre, the sides being naked. 



Mr. Eidgway points out that in the genus Tigrisoma the pectoral and inguinal 

 powder-down tracts are united into a continuous strip, and adds the following 

 characters : — " Tarsus with hexagonal scutellse in front. Outer toe longer than inner ; 

 claws short, strongly curved. Plumage much variegated ; feathers of neck loose and 



fluffy." 



Seven species of Tigrisoma are recognized, all of them being inhabitants of the 

 Neotropical Eegion. Three occur within our limits, one species alone, T. cdbanisi, 

 being met with in Mexico, but not in any part of the Southern United States. 

 This bird differs from the other members of the genus in having the entire throat 

 bare, and on this account it has been separated by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe under a 

 distinct genus, Heterocnus. 



Very little has been recorded of the habits of these Tiger-Bitterns. T. salmoni, of 

 BIOL. CENTK.-AMEK., Aves, Vol. III., October 1901. 23 



