OrmtlwliHiy from Formosa. 137 



their attendaucc, chasing liies on the roof-tops and about the 

 verandahs, and occasionally delighting us with their song. 



September 23rd, I came across a small party of Curlews, 

 Numenius uropygialis, feeding on the mudflats on the banks of 

 the river, and knocked over three, but only succeeded in bagging- 

 two. They were much tamer than iV. arcuatus ; their note has 

 a much deeper trill ; and the sound birds did not gather and 

 wheel round and show concern for the wounded as do the 

 winter-species : my exposing a wounded bird for a decoy only 

 resulted in the loss of the specimen itself. Of the two I 

 secured, one exceeds the other a good bit in the length of bill, 

 wings, legs, and toes. This I took at first to be a sexual differ- 

 ence ; but on dissection they both proved to be females j and on 

 subsequent examination of the sterna, I find that that of the 

 smaller specimen is less developed, and I conclude therefore 

 that the lesser bird was simply the younger. In a grove along 

 the avenue at the inner foot of Apes' Hill I heard the uumistake 

 able "pic'' of the small Woodpecker [Picus kaleensis), and soon 

 had the satisfaction of procuring the pair. The gizzards of the 

 small Curlews above-mentioned contained remains of small 

 crabs, wei-e muscular, and like inverted saucers, as in the Rails 

 and RhynchcEU. The cseca were long and vermiform, and the 

 unique csecal appendage (shaped like, and the size of, a full- 

 grown blowfly-maggot) occurred on the intestine about a foot 

 from the anus. With respect to this appendage, and to the 

 shape of the stomach, Rhyachcea approaches Numenius; but in 

 the relation of their sterna they stand widely apart. That of 

 Rhijfichcea is Scolopacine, while that of Numenius is Totanine, 

 having double open foramina*. In its Ralline affinities and 

 plumage Rhynchaa is analogous to Eurypyga helias, and may be 



* [The number of foramina or emai'ginations at the posterior end of the 

 sternum in Snipes, Sandpipers, and kindred groups is by no means con- 

 stant in the different generally recognized genera, as our contributor 

 seems to suppose. ScoIojkix f/aUinago and Totanns ochropus have each a 

 single emargiiiation on each side of the keel, while Scolopax gallinula andi 

 Totcmus glareula have double eniarginations. It would be easy to enume- 

 rate many more instances ; we only mention these to show that the terms 

 Scolopacine and Totanine as indicating dilferent types of structure in the 

 "sternum are insufficiently precise. — Ed.] 



