50 Mr. R. Swiiihoe on the Ornithology of Amoij (China) . 



This bird is found in all the gardens, hedgerows, &c., and is 

 generally seen in pairs. The tailoring habits of the genus are 

 well known. Mr. Blyth remarks, " Your Orthotomus, I think, is 

 new, and constitutes the twelfth species (!) now recognized." 



27. Prinia sonitans, n. sp. 



I have given the above name from the crackling noise the bird 

 produces when hopping or flying from twig to twig. A male, 

 shot the 9th April, I have thus described: — Length 5*3, wing 1*7, 

 tail 3 ; bill "45, to gape '5 ; tarsus 'S. Bill and inside of mouth 

 black. Irides orange yellow. Legs buff-colour, browner on the 

 claws. Head fine deep bluish grey. Chin and cheeks white. 

 Occiput and back olive-green, blending with the grey towards 

 the forepart and becoming tinged with sienna on the rump. 

 Wings light hair-brown, raagined with buff olive-green. Tail 

 pale brown, margined and tinged with buff olive-green. Breast 

 pale clear buff, tinged with primrose, deepening on the under 

 parts, and very deep on the thighs. The female has the head 

 less bluish than the male. 



It is a common resident here and at Fouchow ; it builds oval 

 nests and lays seven strangely red eggs. Mr. Blyth says — " Your 

 Prinia from Amoy comes exceedingly close to P. flaviventris 

 (Deless.), which is common in the Bengal Sunderbunds, Tenas- 

 serim, &c., and which I have received also from Singapore ; but 

 yours has a longer tail, wants the bright yellow of the lower parts 

 below the breast, and there is an admixture of white in the loral 

 regions and ear-coverts, not seen in our species." 



28. Drymoica extensicauda, n. sp. 



This bird delights in fields of standing grain, long grass, &c., 

 and is often seen standing on a high stalk with its tail thrown 

 up, at the same time twittering a sharp series of unmusical 

 notes. The following description is taken from a male, shot on 

 the 9th of April: — Length 5*1; wing l"9j tail 2*5 long, and gra- 

 duated, the outermost feather measuring 13 ; bill '4, to gape '6 ; 

 tarsus "7. Bill deep blackish brown, paler just at the tip, yellowish 

 flesh-colour at the base of the lower mandible. Inside of mouth 

 pale flesh-colour. Iris orange-yellow ; margin of eyelids buff. 

 Legs yellow ochreous, flesh-colour on the upper surface of the 



