860 
Birds of Celebes: Ardeidae. 
“Condor tjoka”, Tjainba and Maros Distr., Platen 16. 
For further references cf. Salvador! 4; Oates 14] Sharpe 37. 
Figures and descriptions. Gray & Hardwicke 6 /Pj Schrenck e A, Legge^i, Oates 14, 
Vordernian b 11] W. Blasius 16] Sharpe 37. 
Adult. Above, including wing- and tail-feathers, cinnamon-rufous, shghtly ashy on the 
head, and with a purplish tinge on back; under-parts, especially throat and under 
wing, much paler; a dark plait-stripe part-way down middle of throat*); lateral 
pectoral plmnes greyer cinnamon with broad blackish centres; “bare skin of face 
yellow-green; iris gold-yellow; hill above black, below greenish; feet yellow-green” 
(Q, Kema, 24. July, 1893: P. & P. Sarasin). 
Sex. The sexes are similar in coloration. Mr. Oates (14) and Dr. Sharpe (37) ascribe to 
the adult female a plumage differing much from that of the male, but we, like 
Legge (y 1), consider this dress to represent the bird in its second plumage. The 
following specimen appears to be young in second plumage. 
Second plumage. Above dark brown, darkest and uniform on head, shghtly notched with 
pale buff on back, very deeply edged and notched on wing-coverts and inner- 
most remiges; remaining remiges and tail dull cinnamon-rufous; under-parts 
buff, striped with dark brown, except on under tail-coverts (near Manado, Aug. — Sept. 
92: Nat. Coll. — 0 10953). 
Young in first plumage. Above dark brown, the feathers broadly edged with cinnamon- 
buff, except on forehead and crown; sides of head and ear-coverts bright cmnamon 
streaked with dark brown; remiges, except the innermost, cinnamon-rufous; under 
parts buff, streaked with dark brown, clear and whitish on crissum imd under tail- 
coverts; “iris hght yellow; bill above dark brown, below yellowish; feet light green- 
yellow” ((J*, Kahbangkere, S. Celebes, 31. V. 78: Platen — 0 5381). 
Measurements (5 adults). Wing 141 — 150 mm; tail 40 — 46; tarsus 44 — 49; middle toe with 
claw 57—60; exposed culmen 50—54. 
Eggs. “Eggs in my collection from Assam (19. Aug. 81) and Pegu (1. Sept. 77) are almost 
pure white, and measure 32 — 33 X 26 — 27 mm” (Nehrkorn MS.). See, also, Hume 
20, Legge g 1, Kutter 12, Meyer d 2. 
Nest. “Of grass and rushes in a clump of grass in the middle of a field, or in a bush 
growing by the side of a drain, sometimes a few feet above the ground” (Legge g 1). 
Distribution. India (Jerdon, etc. 4, g 1, 20)] Ceylon (Legge, etc. g 1)] Nicobars (Hume & 
Davison 5); Burmah (Oates 14)] Tenasserim (Davison 5); China (David fi, Styan 
23, etc.); Manchuria and Amurland (fide David & Oustalet 6)] Formosa (Swinhoe 
4); Cochin China (Oates 74); Malacca (Kelham, etc. 11, 13)] Singapore (Kelham 77); 
Sumatra (Raffles b 2, Klaesi 18, etc.); Java (Horsfield 4, S. Muller b 5, 
Vorderman b 11)] Lombok (Everett 36)] Borneo (Schwaner b 5, Grabowsky, 
etc. 15, 19)] Philippine Is. (Ever. 7, 8, Steer e, etc. 21, 30, 31, 32, 35)] Celebes: — 
Gorontalo Distr. (v. Rosenberg b 8, b 9, Riedel 16, Meyer in Dresden Mus.), 
Minahassa (P.& E. Sarasin 33, Nat. Coll.), S. Celebes (Platen 16, P.& F. Sarasin 
34, Everett 36). 
The Cinnamon Bittern is a somewhat curiously coloured bird; the cinnamon- 
rufous of its plumage and the soft silky look thereof recalls the Night Herons 
of the N. caledonica-growp, and like them it seems not to be of diurnal habits. 
Abbe David terms it nocturnal, and Legge remarks that in India it is said to 
>) Not always present. 
