Plate XCII. 



TIGRISOMA FASCIATT7M. 



(BANDED TIGEE-BITTEEN). 



Ardea fasciata 



Ardea 



?j ?> 



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

 Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 662. 

 Max. Beitr. iv. p. 634 (1833). 

 Schlegel, Mus. d. Pays-Bas, Ardece, p. 53. 



Supra seneo-nigricans, rufesoeute transfasciolatum : alis caudaque schistaceo-nigris albo terminatis, et, praecipue in 

 pogoniis interioribus, fasciis interrupts albis transvittatis : mandibula nuda, sed ad basin linea e plumis albis composita 

 partim. occupata : gula media plumosa, alba, lateraliter utrinque nuda: cervice antica auguste alba, obscuro oehraceo 

 flammulata : abdomine oehraceo ; hypochondriis et tectricibus alarum inferioribus nigricanti-schistaceis, albo trans- 

 fasciatis : campterio et margine alari externo albis : rostro fusco-nigro, mandibular margine inferiore flavido : pedibus 

 nigricantibus : long, tota 27'0, ala3 13'0, cauda3 5*3, rostri a rictu 4 - 8 ; tarsi 3'6 ; digiti medii cum ungue 3*0. Avis 

 hornotina, supra cinnamomeo-rufa, nigro transfasciata ; subtus albescens cinnamomeo tincta, et nigro minus confertim 

 transfasciata, gula et ventre medio immaculatis. 



Hah. In Brasilia orient, merid. 



In general habit, as "Wagler has already observed, this Tiger-bittern is closely allied to the 

 well-known Tigrisoma brasiliense, of tropical America ; but, besides the conspicuous 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 which leaves only a 

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

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

 side of the mandible is denuded of feathers up to and even beyond, the 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 easily distinguishable in 

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

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

 coarser and further apart. 



The immature dress of T.fasciatum is very 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, is rather blacker above, and may at all events be 



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