2G4' Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 



much lighter than in the male^ and the throat greyish white, 

 washed with yellow. Centre of belly snowy white. In the 

 adult males the throat is quite grey ; but in the majority of skins 

 in my possession it is whitish, with an indication of yellowish. 

 I have one male in the transition plumage, where the yellow-and- 

 greenish garb of the female is brightening into the more highly 

 tinted dress of the male. This gives us the plumage of the 

 young bird, which is similar to the female, but more dully 

 coloured, and at a younger stage probably mottled. In this trans- 

 ition state, this specimen teaches us that the yellow of the tail 

 is the first to undergo a change, being here almost entirely red. 



l^ill and legs black; irides hazel. Tibial feathers in male 

 black, ochreous on the inner side; in the female olive-grey, 

 with yellow on the inner sides. 



6 . Length 7 in. ; wing 3| ; tail 3^ ; tarsi |. $ . Length 6| 

 in.; wing 3^^; tail 3^, of twelve feathers, the first three very 

 short and much graduated, the rest nearly equal. 



The nearest ally to this species is the Pericrocotus Solaris, Blyth, 

 from Nepaul and Bootan (figured in Gould's ' Birds of Asia,' i. 

 t. 4) . I have compared our bird with a skin of that species in my 

 possession. The P. Solaris is much browner on the upper parts 

 than ours, and has the flammeous tints much less bright ; but 

 the chief distinctions are its bright orange throat and its orange 

 thighs, which, from the above description, it will be seen are differ- 

 ently coloured in our species. The two species, however, run 

 close, and, with numerous other birds as well as mammals, prove 

 the affinity that the Formosan fauna bears to the Himalayan, 

 rather than to that of the lower mountains of the Chinese coast. 



In the hilly country of N.W. Formosa the Hee-ah is an 

 abundant species, found all the year through. In the winter it 

 associates in large flocks, many of these consisting almost en- 

 tirely of males, and ranges about from wood to wood, and tree to 

 tree, in the lower country. The females generally prefer remain- 

 ing in the denser shelter of the mountain jungle, and do not 

 evince such roving spirits as their lords ; hence the small 

 number of this sex that I was enabled to procure as compared 

 with males. When on the wing, and in fact wherever they are, 

 the Pericrocoti soon make their presence known by their peculiar 



