198 



Mr. K,. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 



XXI. — The Ornithology of Forinosa, or Taiwan. 

 By Robert Swinhoe, F.Z.S., F.G.S., &c. 



(Plate V.) 



At the time when our forefathers, of blessed memory, tattooed 

 their bodies a sky-blue, and ranged the woods at large in a state 

 of nature, and all Europe was sunk in savagedom, we are in- 

 formed by Chinese records that certain of the Mongolian hordes 

 had settled down into partial civilization, had built themselves 

 houses, constructed boats for the lakes and rivers, and small 

 coasting-vessels for the sea, and, in fact, had already com- 

 menced to make progress in the development of arts and 

 sciences. The children of the future empire were then divided 

 into numerous petty states, each with its king, but all united in 

 one common protective federation. At last one ambitious 

 monarch, possessed of more power than the rest, by intrigues 

 and conquest, absorbed all the other petty states, and esta- 

 blished an empire, which, in the course of several centuries, 

 changed hands a number of times. But we do not here intend 

 to follow the Chinese through their various dynastic struggles : 

 we pass them all at a leap, and pick ourselves up in the dynasty 

 before the reigning one, viz. that of the Ming ; for it was during 

 this period that the Chinese first became aware of the existence 

 of such an island as Formosa. They had had sea-going vessels 

 for centuries, and were in the constant habit, as Marco Polo 



