Mr. R. Swinhoe on Furmosan Ornithology. 281 



Length 9| in.; wing 3y^ ; tail 4^, of twelve graduated feathers, 

 the outermost being 1 inch shorter than the central. Wing 

 rounded, the 5th, 6th, and 7th quills being nearly equal and the 

 longest in the wing. Bill wax-yellow, brownish on the culmen and 

 tip j inside of mouth yellow. Iris light greenish grey. Skin round 

 the eye and ear purplish violet. Ear large and oval, aperture 

 exposed. Legs yellowish flesh-colour washed with brown ; claws 

 brownish. Crown, back, sides of breast, and flanks greyish olive; 

 ochreous white on the forehead, the crown and upper back 

 being streaked broadly with blackish brown. Rump and wings 

 olive-brown, greener on the former ; the latter being hair-brown 

 on the inner webs, with dark shafts. Tail brown, barred with 

 a deeper shade and margined with olive. Throat, loral region, 

 and breast ochreous, faintly streaked with deep brown. Centre 

 of belly smoke-grey. Under wings rust-coloured ochre; vent 

 and tibial feathers brownish ochre. 



The Chinese Hwa-mei is of the same size and proportions, 

 with the same form of wings and tail ; but it is much ruddier, 

 has rather a longer bill, only faint indications of stripes on the 

 crown and hind neck, and a fine clear white mark round and 

 past the eye, like a spectacle. I have a very large series of the 

 Formosan species from several localities in Formosa, and in all, 

 the characteristic markings are constant : but one or two speci- 

 mens have an indication of the white eyebrow, a few of the 

 feathers being quite white; in one nestling in particular the 

 white eyebrow is distinctly marked. The distance between China 

 and Formosa is too great for the slightest probability of either 

 species of these short-flighted birds crossing over to the oppo- 

 site coast ; we must, therefore, look to some other cause for the 

 striking resemblance between the two forms. 



The nestling is very similar to the adult bird, but is of a 

 deeper colour, has scarcely any indications of the thin stripes on 

 the throat and breast, and no smoke-grey on the belly. Its iris 

 is of a rich brown colour. 



The female is scarcely distinguishable from the male, except 

 by her rather smaller size and shorter tail. 



The range of this species in Formosa appears to extend 

 throughout the entire champaign country and lower hills. I 



