Mr. R. Swinhoe un Furmosnn Ornithulogy. 303 



set foot in that isle." The Chinese rule has not introduced a 

 better order of things, but has rather most unhappily thrown in 

 a more powerful element to provoke dissension and mutual ex- 

 termination among the ill-fated heirs to the soil. If Formosa 

 is ever destined to be a jewel in some European crown, our 

 little Btilomachus may some day find himself emblazoned on the 

 armorial bearings of a well-governed colony. Meanwhile I can- 

 not do better tlmn let his pretty portrait adorn the pages of ' The 

 Ibis.' I send you the better of the two skins I possess, and I 

 am sure ]\Ir. Wolf will do the species justice. Its claims on the 

 naturalist, and on the politician equally, demand for it a first 

 place. 



Takow, S.W. Formosa, 

 30 December, 1865. 



In comparing my Notes already published in 'The Ibis' with 

 my Journal for 18G4 at Tamsuy, I find some jottings, which are 

 of more or less importance, omitted in the former; and as I 

 make that esteemed periodical the storehouse for my ornitholo- 

 gical "ramblings," I must ask indulgence to have them now 

 inserted. 



" Garrulax poecilorhynchus, Gould. 1 March, 1864. Bare 

 skin between the eye and ear fine French-grey. Legs light 

 leaden-grey, with yellowish sole-pads. Claws flesh-colour, gi'ey- 

 ish on the basal half." By the way, I see from Bonaparte's 'Con- 

 spectus' (i. p. 373) and Jerdon's 'Birds of India' (ii. p. 66), 

 that there is already a Timalia pcecilorhyncha, Lafresnaye, which 

 has been identified with Layardia subrufa (Jerdon). It will 

 perhaps be necessary for Mr. Gould to give our bird some other 

 specific name. 



" Urocissa ccerulea, Gould. I was very anxious to get a live 

 example of the species home to the Zoological Society's Gardens. 

 My hunter had nine captured in the hills with a noose-trap. He 

 unfortunately boxed them all up together in one basket, and fed 

 them on boiled rice. Five were dead before the basket reached 

 me. I was having cages made for them, and in the mean time 

 left them together. A loud, continued screeching took me 

 quickly to the basket. One bird was standing on the top of 

 another and hammering him most terribly with his bill. I 



