_Ardea Sinensis_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 642. (Type
locality, China.)
_Ardea lepida_ Lesson, Traité d'Ornith., 1831, p. 573 (Marianne);
Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 167 (Mariannen).
_Ardea sinensis_ Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 305 (Guahan); Gray, Hand-list Birds, 3,
1871, p. 31 (Marian); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1872, pp. 89, 105 (Uap); Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2,
1873, p. 123 (Yap); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5,
33 (Palau, Yap); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 577
(Ruk); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881,
p. 353 (Ruk).
_Ardea (Ardetta) sinensis_ Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific
Ocean, 1859, p. 49 (Ladrone or Marian Islands).
_Ardetta Sinensis_ Salvadori, Ornith. Papuasia, 3, 1882, p. 364
(Pelew, Carolines, Mariannis); Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 261
(Mariannes); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden,
no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 68 (Marianne, Uap, Ruk, Pelew);
Oustalet, Nouv. Arch, Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, pp. 38,
39 (Guam, Saypan, Ponapi, Ruk, Palaos); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5,
1898, p. 65 (Guam); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 26, 1898, p.
227 (Marianne, Carolines, Pelew); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900,
p. 11 (Ruk); Safford, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 79
(Guam); Prowazek, Die deutschen Marianan, 1913, p. 100 (Saipan);
Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam).
_Ardetta bryani_ Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1,
1901, p. 27 (Type locality, Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 66
(Guam); _idem_, The Plant World, p. 266 (Guam).
_Ardetta sinensis sinensis_ Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915,
p. 50 (Ruk, Pelew).
_Ixobrychus sinensis bryani_ Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore,
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, pp. 173, 175 (Guam); Kuroda, in
Momoyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 37
(Guam,?Yap,?Mackenzie,?Pelew); _idem_, Avifauna Riu Kiu, 1925, p.
134 (Guam,?Yap,?Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1,
1927, p. 202 (Guam,?Pelew); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 1,
1931, p. 121 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 184
(Saipan, Tinian, Rota, Guam); Oberholser, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus.,
159, 1932, p. 18 (Guam); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936,
p. 15 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 205
(Saipan, Tinian, Rota, Guam); Amadon, Bull. Bernice P. Bishop
Mus., 186, 1945, p. 25 (Guam); Stott, Auk, 64, 1947, p. 525
(Saipan); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p.
44 (Rota, Guam).
_Ixobrychus sinensis moorei_ Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore,
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 173 (Type locality, Uala,
Truk group); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 38
(Ruk); Kuroda, Avifauna Riu Kiu, 1925, p. 134 (Ruk); Mathews,
Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 202 (Middle Carolines);
Peters, Check-list Birds World, 1, 1931, p. 121 (Truk); Hand-list
Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 184 (Palaus, Yap, Truk);
Oberholser, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 159, 1932, p. 17 (Carolines,
?Pelews); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 205
(Babelthuap, Koror, Yap, Truk); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol.
107, no. 15, 1948, p. 44 (Truk, Peleliu).
_Ixobrychus sinensis_ Hartert, Vogel pal. Fauna, 10, 1920, p. 1260
(Truk, Palau, Guam); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 285
(Marianas, Palau, Yap, Truk); Watson, The Raven, 17, 1946, p. 41
(Guam); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 49, 1946, p. 91 (Tinian);
Wharton, Ecol. Monogr., 16, 1946, p. 174 (Guam); Delacour and Mayr,
Birds Philippines, 1946, p. 29 (Guam); Strophlet, Auk, 63, 1946, p.
536, (Guam); Baker, Condor, 49, 1947, p. 125 (Guam).
_Ixobrychus sinensis sinensis_ Hachisuka, Birds Philippines, 1,
1932, p. 365 (Guam, Truk); Robinson and Chasen, Birds Malay
Peninsula, 3, 1936, p. 195 (Marianne).
_Ixobrychus sinensis palewensis_ Momiyama, Bull. Biogeogr. Soc.
Japan, 2, 1932, p. 333 (Type locality, Pelew); Mathews, Ibis,
1933, p. 88 (Pelew).
_Ixobrychus sinensis yapensis_ Momiyama, Bull. Biogeogr. Soc.
Japan, 2, 1932, p. 333 (Type locality, Yap); Mathews, Ibis, 1933,
p. 89 (Yap).
_Geographic range._--Northeastern China and Japan south to
Micronesia, Malaysia, Burma, India and Ceylon. Winter visitor to
Papuan region. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Saipan, Tinian,
Rota, Guam; Palau Islands--Babelthuap, Koror, Peleliu; Caroline
Islands--Yap, Truk.
_Characters._--Adult male: A small bittern with crown and short
occipital crest slaty-black; mantle light buffy-brown; back and
rump gray; tail black; wing-coverts brownish-buff; primaries and
secondaries slaty-black; underparts yellowish buff; chin and
throat whitish; sides of head and neck and a line of feathers
across chest blackish edged with buff; bill yellowish green; feet
greenish yellow.
Adult female: Resembles adult male, but with upper parts mottled
brown and golden chestnut; underparts deep buff streaked with pale
brown on neck.
Immature: Resembles adult, with upper parts heavily streaked with
blackish-brown, and underparts streaked with chestnut and dark
brown.
_Measurements._--Measurements of specimens from Micronesia are
given in table 16.