1164 
AEDEIEALLA CINNAMOMEA. 
with great force, and making a harsh craking noise. The food of this species consists of worms, aquatic 
insects, frogs, and fish. 
Nidification. — This Bittern breeds in the W estern Province in J une and J uly, building a 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. A nest I found in a bush in a water-grass field near Colombo was made of dry 
grass, neatly hollowed out in the interior, and lined with finer grass laid crosswise in different directions, the 
cavity measuring about 8 inches across. Another, found by the taxidermist of the Colombo Museum at 
Kacsbawa, was built in the middle of a clump of water-grass, with some of the standing stalks bent down to 
form a bottom for the nest. This contained three fresh eggs, pure white, very oval in shape, and measuring 
1.27 by l'O inch, 1’26 by 1'05, and 1’31 by 1 '0.2. In India the nest has been found supported on reeds bent 
flown for the purpose on the ground against the roots of water-plants, propped up with roots of rushes, and in 
all cases composed of rush, grass, reed-leaves, and stalks. Six appears to be the maximum number of the 
clutch, the eggs having sometimes a bluish-grey tinge, according to Mr. TIume. They vary in length from 
12 to 1-4 inch and from 1-0 to IT in breadth. 
Genus NYCTICOEAX. 
Bill stout, high at the base ; culmen curved near the tip ; gonys straight, naral groove almost 
joining the commissure near the tip ; sides of both mandibles inflated near the base. Wings 
rounded ; 2nd and 3rd quills the longest. Tail short and rounded. Legs moderately short ; tibia 
less feathered than in Ardetta. Tarsus reticulate on the inside ; claws attenuated. 
Head with a long crest of two or three attenuated feathers ; neck short and thick. 
Of nocturnal habit. 
