Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 293 



or other her plumage requiring longer time to develope than 

 that of the rougher sex. In an adult^ shot Sept. 27, 1861, the 

 iris was light brownish pink, with an outer broader brown circle ; 

 the skin round the eye was light madder-brown. 



50. PsAROPHOLUs ARDENs, Swinhoc, Ibis, 1862, p. 363, pi. 13. 



I must refer my readers to the above volume of ' The Ibis ' for 

 an account of the adult of this bird. 



All my specimens of this species were procured near Tamsuy in 

 March and April 1862. The most immature form I possess has 

 the head, hind neck, axillaries, and tibiae black ; throat and neck 

 blackish brown, each feather margined with whitish brown. 

 Upper parts dingy crimson, each feather with a brown shaft; 

 tail washed with brown. Wing-coverts and wings deep brown. 

 From a few feathers that still remain only partially changed, I 

 should judge that in the plumage of the nestling the entire 

 upper parts were dark brown, and that the transformation is 

 effected, not by moult, but by change of colour in each feather. 

 Under-parts brownish white, with long black streaks, the vent, 

 sides of breast, and flanks becoming crimson. 



In a more advanced specimen the colours have deepened; 

 only a few streaks remain on the belly, and crimson underneath 

 is fast taking the place of whitish. I have a third where the 

 crimson on the under-parts has diffused itself, yet a few streaks 

 remain. The upper parts are rich, but not dark, and most of 

 the feather-shafts are whitish ; many of the under-feathers are 

 margined with whitish. 



In others the plumage is quite complete and brilliant, as I 

 have described it before. The basal part of the crimson feathers 

 is everywhere a pure white in all the skins. Fourth quill 

 longest in the wing. Tail-feathers 12, with white under-shafts, 

 somewhat graduated, and angularly tipped. 



The female in adult plumage does not differ from the male. 



51. Herpornis xanthochlora, Hodgs. 



Erpornis xanthochlora, Hodgson, P. Z. S. 1845, p. 23. 



I received one specimen only of this interesting bird, from the 

 mountainous interior near Tamsuy. It tallies almost exactly 

 with the Nepalese species, except that the bill and tail are both 



