Mr. R, Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 403 



offices that I have been able to procure the species that I have 

 acquired since leaviug Formosa. With the birds noted in the 

 commencement of this paper I received from Formosa a Micro- 

 nisus, which answers well to Dr. Jerdon's description of the 

 male M. virgatiis ; but as I do not know the species, I cannot 

 say with confidence that it is that bird. It was shot about the 

 end of March 1866. 



On the 11th of May Captain Ebert, of the British schooner 

 ' Pearl,' brought me an adult Micronisus soloensis, which Hew 

 on board his vessel a few days before at the Pescadores. Its cere 

 and legs are bright orange ; its claws are black. It has the 

 spotless cream-white axillaries. Its tarsi and toes are short and 

 thick, as compared with those of the supposed M. virgatus. 

 From its occurring at the Pescadores we are justified in adding it 

 to the Formosan list. 



Two adult specimens of Gorsachius goisagi were also received : 

 one is marked with more vivid chestnut than the other. They 

 correspond with Bonaparte's description of the species in his 

 ' Conspectus.' The crest of the adult in summer dress is long, 

 and composed of several rather broad feathers, and similar in 

 style to that of Butorides javanica. In winter the crest seems 

 to fall, leaving the head smooth and plain chestnut, instead of 

 being capped and crested with cinereous-black plumes. This 

 seasonal change is the chief cause for the confusion in determin- 

 ing the species. The young bird described in the ' Conspectus ' 

 would appear to be this species in winter dress. The true 

 fledged nestling I have already described [supra, p. 123] from 

 a pair that I kept alive at Takow. It is a species of the jungly 

 interior, and occurs rarely on the plains. 



I think I must have been wrong in referring the Turnix 

 rostrata (Ibis, 1865, p. 543) to the T. dussumieri division of 

 Jerdon and Blyth. I have lately received two or three more 

 males, similar to the first ; one I got with the chicks. I have 

 also some from the same locality, which I take to be females. 

 They have a much deeper bill, which varies in length, depth, 

 and even somewhat in form in individuals. Their forehead, 

 cheeks, and throat are black, speckled with white, and they are 



