Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 303 



season, laying in the first seven small, round, maroon-coloured 

 eggs ; in the two next, five a-piece — seldom less. The birds of the 

 year are olive-green on the upper parts, with none of the blackish 

 grey on the crown that adorns the adult bird. In the moult of 

 the following spring the transformation into the adult plumage 

 is complete. 



In August 1861 I examined some young ones at Taiwanfoo. 

 They had the bills blackish brown on the culmen ; the remainder 

 and inside of mouth, except just a little black at the base of 

 the tongue, being bright orange-yellow. Over and under the 

 eye, to base of bill, bright sulphur-yellow. Legs and claws light 

 orange-ochre. 



I have a very large series of the eggs of this bird. They 

 average "58 by "46, and are usually maroon-colour, obscurely 

 blotched and spotted with a deeper shade of the same; but 

 some have the ground-colour white, or nearly white, spotted 

 chiefly at the larger end with maroon-red ; others have a deep 

 brownish-maroon ring round the apex, others the same round 

 the middle. The spots and shades are varied in every conceivable 

 way, and, in looking through the series, the size and even the 

 shape are found to be by no means uniform. 



65. CiSTICOLA SCHCENICOLA, Bp. 



C. cursitans, Franklin. 



C. brunneiceps, Temm. et Schl., Faun. Japon. 



C. tintinnabulans, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1860, p. 51. 



" Length 4^ in.; wing 2^ ; tail 1^. Bill brownish flesh-grey, 

 much darker on culmen. Iris light yellowish brown; skin 

 round the eye blackish brown. Inside of mouth black. Ear- 

 covert oval, nearly as large as the eye ; operculum large and ex- 

 posed. Legs and toes ochreous flesh -colour, somewhat browner 

 on claws." The above refers to a fresh specimen killed at Tamsuy 

 in April. I have six specimens from Formosa, three from India, 

 and several from China. The Indian birds are smaller and more 

 rufescent, but they present entirely the same style of colouring 

 as the rest of mine, the oldest bird having a uniform brown 

 crown, as in the single individual from Japan, from which the 

 description in the ' Fauna Japonica ' is taken. My Formosan 



