298 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 



hatching the eggs ; but I can neither confirm nor reject this from 

 my own observations." It is easier to make observations on the 

 nesting of birds in Europe than in tropical countries ; so you 

 had better set your Andalusian correspondents to scent after the 

 species of this group that occurs within their region. It ishkely 

 enough that this advantage over the male of which the human 

 fair is possessed only in leap-year, will be found to be annually 

 enjoyed by their more fortunate sisters among certain birds ; and 

 the right of contending for their husbands would then, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Darwin's theory of sexual selection, be the cause of their 

 developing a handsomer plumage than their mates. I have an 

 idea that among the Rhynchace the duties of incubation also 

 devolve upon the male bird ; for the females are found knocking 

 about together in flocks before the close of summer, at a season 

 when more matronly birds prefer looking after their families to 

 gadding. I have not, however, been fortunate enough to fall in 

 with the nest of our representative of this very interesting genus -, 

 and Dr. Jerdon makes no remark on the subject. 



I was in Amoy the last few days of November. I found in 

 a friend's aviary a bird that has not occurred to me in South 

 China before. It is a Porphyrio, smaller than P. poliocephalus 

 of India, and certainly not that species. It may be P. smarag- 

 dinus, Temm., of the Straits. It was in too bad plumage for 

 me to take a note of it worth having. My friend told me that 

 he got it from a Chinese rustic who was playing with it, and 

 who said that it had been taken in that neighbourhood. 1 was 

 told that at night its plumage displayed a phosphorescence ! 



At the Pescadores, as is usual, I was delayed both going and 

 coming. With the exception of a Peregrine Falcon and two or 

 thi-ee Gulls, I saw no wild birds there. In the chief town, 

 Makung, several pairs of the pretty White Dove were brought 

 to me for sale. As I have before stated, these Doves are said 

 to be reminiscences of the former Dutch possession of these 

 islands, and to have been introduced from Java. They are now 

 bred by the Chinese in confinement, and are much prized. They 

 seem to me to be simply albinos of the Domestic Dove, which is 

 usually referred to Tvrtur risorius. 



On the 17th of December, while riding down to this port 



