. Birds. Birds. ARDBTTA. 399 into white, with black and rufous spots and blotches, on the lower breast and abdomen ; lower tail-coverts mostly white. Toung birds have a black crown w'ith white or buff arrowhead- shaped markings ; upper parts blacldsh brown with narrow wavy and zigzag buff crossbars ; quills black, speckled with white at the tips : lower parts rut'ous-buff, speckled and blotched with white iind black, chin' mostly white. There appears to be a gradual passage into the adult Fig. 97.—Head of G. melanolophm. \. Culmen black ; sides of upper mandible and the lower mandibl
. Birds. Birds. ARDBTTA. 399 into white, with black and rufous spots and blotches, on the lower breast and abdomen ; lower tail-coverts mostly white. Toung birds have a black crown w'ith white or buff arrowhead- shaped markings ; upper parts blacldsh brown with narrow wavy and zigzag buff crossbars ; quills black, speckled with white at the tips : lower parts rut'ous-buff, speckled and blotched with white iind black, chin' mostly white. There appears to be a gradual passage into the adult Fig. 97.—Head of G. melanolophm. \. Culmen black ; sides of upper mandible and the lower mandible fleshy; sides of face greenish and slaty; irides golden yellow; legs and feet greenish, brown in front (Legge). Length 20 j tail 3-8; wing 10-5'j tarsus 2-75; bill from •gape 2*5. Distribution. A rare bird in Cej'lon and in the hill-forests near the Malabar coast of India as far north as the hills west of Belgaum. It is not known to occur elsewhere in the Indian Peninsula, but is found in Assam, Cachar, Manipur, Arrakan, Pegu, Tenasserim, the Nicobar Islands, the Malay Peninsula, and as far east as Formosa and Hainan, the Philippines, and Borneo. Habits, 4'c. This Heron occurs chiefly in forests, and is said to be a seasonal migrant to Ceylon, arriving about November, but if so, it probably comes from India, not, as some ornithologists have -supposed, from the eastward. It breeds on the Malabar coast, for Davidson, when in Kanara, obtained the young unable to fly ; the nidification is, however, unknown. It is a bird of nocturnal habits, roosting on trees in the day, and feeding at night on fish, .crabs, worms, &c. Genus ARDETTA, Gray, 1842. Bill straight, slight, culmen flat at the base; groove on each side of the upper mandible broad and shallow; neck and legs rather short, the back of the neck bare, but covered over by lengthened feathers from the sides. Head with a short crest. Scapulars and back-feathers normal, but the feathers of the upper breast much lengthened
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Keywords: ., bookauthoroate, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds
