Mr. R. Swinhoe on Amoy Ornitholuyy . 227 



proved to be a female. It nevertheless had the swollen and 

 convoluted trachea which I before thought was peculiar to the 

 male. The specimen was an old bird. 



May 8th. — A bird was brought to me from the country near, 

 identical in most respects with Cuccystes coromandus (L.) of 

 India, but differing in having the belly and flanks, together 

 with the tibial feathers, of a light dusky-brown washed with 

 yellowish. Length 15 inches; wing 6"6 in. ; tail 9*6 in. The 

 outermost tail-feather on either side is tipped with whitish, 

 chiefly on the outer web; the rest have less white as they 

 approach the middle. In other characters the bird is precisely 

 as described in Dr. Jerdon's 'Birds of India ^ (i. p. 341). 

 My specimen appears to be mature, and I will separate it 

 from the Indian species simply as var. fuliginiventer until 1 

 have an opportunity of comparing the two forms. I have 

 not before noticed any of the Coccystes group of Cuckoos in 

 China, 



May 18th. — There ai'e some thirty or forty nests of Cypselus 

 subfurcatus, Blyth, under the verandah of a house in Amoy; 

 but they all appear to have separate entrances, each nest one for 

 itself. I sent a man to examine them, and he brought down 

 two dozen eggs. They were all hard-set, did not differ much in 

 size, and presented nothing peculiar. 



While out walking in the evening I observed a Black Jack- 

 daw {Corvus neglectus, Schleg.) hopping about among the 

 rocks. It was rather tame, and may have escaped from some 

 ship lately down from the north. 



May 26th. — Some young unfledged Larks [Alauda ccelivox, 

 Swinh.) brought for me to look at. The Chinese tell the males 

 by three black spots on the yellow tongue of the nestling, one at 

 the tip and the other two on each side of the centre. Those 

 without spots, or with only the two central ones, they reject 

 as females. 



June 13th. — I came across a Chinaman carrying a freshly shot 

 Tantalus, a form of bird never met with by me before in China. 

 This example is in its first year's plumage, and therefore not 

 easily identified ; but it appears to me to unite some of the cha- 



N. S. VOL. III. R 



