Young.—Pure white, without any ornamental plumes but with an orange tinge on the crown.
Winter plumage.—Pure white, without any ornamental plumes.
This bird is often seen in large flocks and individuals alight fearlessly on the backs of cattle; they often feed in plowed fields. Several hundreds of cattle egrets nested in a patch of giant grass near Guindulman, Bohol. Eggs obtained in June vary in length from 40 to 50 mm. and in width from 30 to 35. They are pale blue in color.
Genus IXOBRYCHUS Billberg, 1828.[15]
Small, wing 150 mm. or less; bill slender and sharp, plumage reddish brown, cinnamon-rufous, and white with some mixture of black.
Species.
- a1. Primaries black or blackish brown. sinensis (p. [178])
- a2. Primaries cinnamon-rufous like back. cinnamomeus (p. [179])
149. IXOBRYCHUS SINENSIS (Gmelin).
LITTLE YELLOW BITTERN.
- 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.