Ardea sinensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 2, 642.
Ardetta sinensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 227;
Hand-List (1899), 1, 202; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 131;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 35.
Ba-caú bing-ey, Manila; rat, Calayan.
Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor);
Mindanao (Mearns, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu
(Guillemard); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester). Japan, China, Korea,
Indo-Chinese countries; Indian Peninsula; Malay Peninsula and
islands to Australia in winter.
"Adult male.--Above earthy brown, slightly tinged with rufous, more
especially on the scapulars; wing-coverts clay-brown, greater series
rather paler on the edges; edge of wing white; alula, primary-coverts,
and quills black, slightly shaded with ashy; inner secondaries brown,
tinged with rufous; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ashy
gray, the last somewhat darker; tail-feathers black; crown and nape
black; sides of face, ear-coverts, and sides of neck vinous, becoming
chestnut on the long frill-like feathers of the latter; throat white,
mesially streaked with yellowish buff, like the rest of under surface;
thighs more tawny-rufous; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts
white; on each side of upper breast a patch of dependent feathers,
of a blackish ground with yellowish-buff margins; under wing-coverts
and axillars pure white; quills slaty below, with paler gray at the
ends. 'Eyelids and facial skin green; upper mandible dark brown on
the culmen, and pinkish brown on the margins; lower mandible pinkish
brown, turning to green towards the tip; the toes and tibio-tarsal
joint pale yellow; tarsus dull flesh-color; claws horn-color; iris
yellow.' (Oates). Length, 394; culmen, 51; wing, 124; tail, 38;
tarsus, 44.
"Adult female.--Differs from the male in being more rufous above, the
feathers of the upper surface being rufous-brown with yellowish-buff
margins; the crown is black as in the male, the ear-coverts and
sides of the face are yellowish buff, and the neck-frill is also
washed with the latter color; the under surface of the body the
same as that of the male, but having the mesial lines more strongly
indicated by tawny-buff centers to the feathers of the throat and
fore neck. 'Upper mandible dark brown, lower one greenish yellow;
feet greenish yellow.' (Butler.) Length, 394; culmen, 53; wing, 132;
tail, 41; tarsus, 51.
"Young.--Similar to the old female and streaked in the same manner,
but distinguished by having wing-coverts broadly centered with dark
brown; crown streaked instead of being uniform; feathers black with
yellowish buff margins, and under surface of body much more distinctly
streaked, centers of the feathers being dark brown on throat and fore
neck; flank-feathers also streaked with brown." (Sharpe.)
"Extremely abundant about Lake Naujan, in Mindoro. It comes out on
the mud flats to feed, but promptly takes refuge among the reeds if
disturbed." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)