MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY, 197 



approach they rose in regular flocks ; and, so as to be certain what 

 they were, I shot three or four. They flew very close to the sur- 

 face of the water." 



Ardetta flavicollis (Lath.). The Black Bittern. 



Personally I never shot this handsome Bittern in the Malay 

 States ; but I paw skins in Malacca collections. I killed one or 

 two in the neighbourhood of the Canton river, South China, where 

 I found them in thick reeds and not easily flushed. 



Ardetta cinnamomea (Grm.). The Chestnut Bittern. 



I found this small Chestnut Bittern plentiful in Singapore, and 

 also on the mainland, and shot many specimens in Perak, Larut, 

 Province Wellesley, and Malacca, generally flushing them in paddy- 

 fields. 



A female, which I shot at Singapore on 30th September, 1877, 

 was about 14 inches in length, bill at front lyV ; tarsus If ; irides 

 yellow ; bill pale greenish yellow, dusky on the ridge ; soles pale 

 yellow ; upper parts and the tail ruddy chestnut, but much varie- 

 gated, many of the feathers of the wing-coverts and back being 

 brown with pale yellowish margins ; top of head dusky ; chin 

 whitish ; pectoral gorget of ruddy yellowish-brown feathers with 

 dark brown central streaks ; under-surface of the wings ash-grey 

 with a delicate pink tinge. 



Undoubtedly this was a young bird, being of such mottled 

 plumage ; moreover it was of much smaller dimensions than an 

 adult, at least according to Jerdon's description. 



Another specimen, which I shot during May in the neighbour- 

 hood of Kuala Kangsa, Perak, was of an almost uniform chestnut 

 colour as regards its upper parts, but brightest on the wrings and 

 tail, and becoming brown on the back ; the top of the head had a 

 dusky tinge ; underparts yellowish white ; pectoral gorget boldly 

 marked with longitudinal reddish-brown streaks ; under-surface 

 of the wings delicate pink-grey ; bill at front 2 inches, in colour, 

 yellow, the ridge dusky ; legs greenish yellow ; irides bright yellow, 

 orbital region green. 



Arpetta sinensis (Grm.). 



Certainly not so common as A. cinnamomea, still by no means 

 rare in reedy swamps and wet paddy-fields. It is easily distin- 



