Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 211 



ing with the yellowish on the basal portion of the bill ; cere and 

 skin round the eye chrome-yellow ; iris deep brown ; legs bright 

 chrome-yellow, with black claws. Stomach empty. In the 

 membranes that enclosed the air-cavities over the kidneys were 

 two or three long and a few small whitish ascarides ; the largest 

 measured about 11 in. long by -jV in. broad. 



This bird, like the Amoy variety, is rather darker on the upper 

 parts than the generality of European Peregrines ; but its under 

 parts are very pale, and only scantily spotted and barred with 

 black. Mr. Gurney considers ours identical with the European 

 bird. 



5. TiNNUNCULUS JAPONICUS, Schlcg. 



Almost every country has its Kestrel ; and where it occurs, it 

 is generally the commonest of all Falcons. In Formosa this rule 

 also obtains. One could seldom take a long walk without ob- 

 serving a Windhover or two, so frequently true to its provincial 

 name. At Tamsuy, on the top of the old square-built Dutch fort, 

 which has stood the wreck of time for the last two centuries, a 

 pair of Kestrels made their home. Wandering about the face 

 of the country during the day, in the evening they were regular 

 in their return; and we were sure to see them, just as it began to 

 grow dark, drop carelessly into one of the banyan-bushes that 

 spring from the sides of the fort, and quietly disappear for the 

 night. 



6. Spizaetus orientalis, Temm. & Schleg. Faun. Japon. 

 pi. 3. 



A fine female of this Eagle was brought to me at Tamsuy, on 

 the 25th of March, from the interior. It had been shot while 

 seated on a rock near a large pool ; and from this it was wrongly 

 inferred by the hunter that it was a Fish-Hawk. I learnt from 

 the Chinese that it not unfrequently occurred on the hills, and 

 that it preyed on hares and even occasionally on young deer. 

 Mr. Gurney agrees with me in considering our bird identical 

 with that figured in the ' Fauna Japonica ' under the above 

 name. I received the bird the day after it had been skinned, 

 and was thus enabled to make the following note : — length 2 ft. 

 4 in. ; wing 1 ft. 7 in. ; tail 12g in., of twelve feathers, somewhat 



