280 Mr. R. Swiuhoe on Formosan Ornithohgy. 



Chinese bird ; only look to Linnseus^s ' Systema Naturse/ where, 

 under the head of Turdus sinensis, the description shortly and 

 admirably applies to this bird. It runs thus : — " T. rufescens, 

 capite fusco striato, superciliis albis, rectricibus fuscis strigis ob- 

 scurioribus, pedibus flavis. — Turdus sinensis, Briss. Av. ii. p. 221 ; 

 Hoamy de la Chine, BuflF. Hist. Nat. des Ois. iii. p. 316." 



Osbeck, who visited Canton, could have made scarcely any 

 collection without including the bird best known to all China- 

 men. 



In China the Hwa-mei is a true hill-bird, and never met with 

 on the plains or low country, where its place is supplied by the 

 large Garrulax perspicillatus, L. I have traced it from Canton 

 to Foochow ; and I suspect it may extend to Ningpo, but cer- 

 tainly not further north. 



The Formosan Hwa-mei (or Hoe-he, as the word is there pro- 

 nounced) is both a hill -bird and a frequenter of the plains. In 

 the hills, however, it is not common ; and I do not think it there 

 ranges to a greater altitude than 2000 feet. On the plains it is 

 everywhere excessively common, being found in the bamboo- 

 plantations, hopping, with curved back and rounded tail, from 

 bough to bough, fluttering its short distances from tree to tree 

 or bush to bush, and frequently singing out lustily its loud 

 notes. Its song is rich and powerful, abounding in a great 

 variety of notes, many of which have a strong resemblance to 

 those of the Blackbird and Thrush {T. merula and T. musicus) ; 

 but, unless heard at a moderate distance, the noise almost 

 deafens you. I think the notes of the Formosan bird rather 

 finer than those of the Chinese ; but in this the Chinese settlers, 

 naturally preferring the products of the mother country, do not 

 agree with me. The Hoe-be is not particular in the choice of its 

 nesting-site ; it sometimes builds in a bush close to the ground, 

 often at various heights, and at others on the bough of a tree. 

 The nest is small and compact, rather flattened, cup-shaped, and 

 formed of coarse grasses and fibres exteriorly, lined with fine 

 dried grass. The eggs vary from three to five, and are of a 

 rather deep greenish-blue colour, without spot or stain. They 

 vary a little in size, averaging in length "91, in breadth "72. 



Note on a fresh specimen shot at Taiwanfoo, 8th Aug. 1861. — 



