AKDEIKALLA CINNAMOMEA. 
(THE CHESTNUT BITTERN.) 
Ardea cinnamomea, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 643 (1788); Gray & Hardwicke, 111. Ind. Zool. 
pi. 66. fig. 1 (1830-34); Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 622 (1875). 
Ardetta cinnamomea (Gm.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 282 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. & 
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 113 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 755 (1864) ; Holdsw. 
P. Z. S. 1872, p. 478 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 30, et 1875, p. 404 ; Salvadori, UcCelli di 
Borneo, p. 354 ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 311, et 1879, p. 114 (List B. of Ind.) ; 
David & Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 447. 
Cinnamon Heron , Latham ; Le Blongios cannelle , French. Lai bagla , Hind. ; Khyri 
bog la, Bengal.; Ayaman , Java (Horsf.) ; Burong Jcaladi, Sumatra (Raffles). Kuruttu 
KoJcu, Ceylonese Tamils. 
Metti korowaka, Sinhalese. 
Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 14'5 to 15-0 inches ; wing 5-3 to 575 ; tail 1-6 to 1-8 ; tarsus 1-8 to 1-95 ; 
middle toe (without claw) 17 to 1-8, claw (straight) 0-38 ; bare tibia 0-5 ; bill to gape 2-45 to 2-6, at front 1-85. 
The tibia, in proportion to its length, is less feathered than in A. Jlavicollis ; claws short, middle very finely pec- 
tinated. 
Male (Furreedpore). Wing 575 to 6-08 inches ; tarsus 2-08; bill to gape 2-8 : weight 5-37 to 578 oz. (Cripps).— 
Male (Nicobars). Length 15-5 inches ; wing 57 ; tarsus 17 ; bill at front 27 {Hume).— Adult (Formosa : coll. 
Swinhoe). W ing 57 to 6 - 0 ; tarsus T2 to 2'0 ; middle toe and claw 2'3 ; bill at front 1*9 to 2T. 
Iris pale golden yellow, in some with a few specks of brown; orbital skin greenish yellow ; bill yellow, the culmen 
dark brown ; legs and feet dusky greenish yellow, the tibia greener than the tarsus ; soles, sides of toes, and 
posterior part of tarsus yellow ; claws dark brown. 
Head, hind neck, and all above chestnut, a tinge of ashy on the head and crest, and the wing-coverts paler than the 
rest; shafts of quills black ; throat, fore neck, chest, and under surface yellowish rufeseent, darkening to .chestnut 
on the flanks, and with nearly always a brown stripe down the centre of the lower fore neck ; a white stripe at 
each side of the gorge running backwards past the ear-coverts ; pectoral plumes with yellowish-fulvous edgings. 
The “ powder-down ” tracts are well developed in this species. 
A estling, just fledged (Ceylon). Bill to gape T9 inch, tarsus 17. Forehead and crown olive-black ; nape, hind neck, inter- 
scapulars, scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, and tertials rich dark brown, the feathers narrowly edged with rufous on 
the occiput, and elsewhere broadly margined with rufous buff, with a blackish inner edge ; quills cinnamon-red, 
as in the adult ; back and tail still in down (brownish, tipped with white) ; chin and throat whitish, with dark 
buff-edged centres, which widen on the chest aud breast, the ground-colour there being rich buff instead of white ; 
abdomen buffy white ; thighs buff, the feathers centred with brown. 
After this nestling-plumage is put off, and the dress of the first year assumed, considerable variation exists in the 
amount and lightness of the pale markings of the upper surface, and the dark coloration of the throat and under 
surface. The following is a description of a December example from the Colombo district : — 
Iris yellow, with a dark spot across it ; bill with the upper mandible and margin of the lower black, a dark stripe 
extending back to the eye ; legs and feet green ; toes dusky ; soles yellow. Upper surface generally dark ferru- 
ginous brown, the basal portions of the feathers being reddish, while the marginal parts are brown, edged on the 
hind neck, back, and scapulars with buff-yellow, and deeply margined and indented on the wing-coverts with the 
same ; quills, winglet, major coverts, rump, tail, and underlying tertials dull cinnamon, the winglet and coverts 
edged and indented with buff, and adjacently shaded with blackish ; quill-shafts blackish and basal part of 
inner webs dark slate ; forehead and crown ashy black ; fore neck and under surface buff, boldly dashed, chieflv 
on one web, with rich dark sepia-brown, which down the central portion is edged with rufous, and runs up in a 
stripe to the chin ; sides of abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts buff, with narrow dark mesial lines ; under 
wing-coverts fulvous yellow, with slaty centres. 
