THE IBIS. 



No. XX. OCTOBER 1863. 



XXXII. — The Ornithology of Formosa, or Taiwan. 



By Robert Swinhoe, Esq., F.Z.S., &c. 



[Concluded from p. 311.] 



82. Alauda ccelivox, Swinhoe. 



Throughout the plains, the downs, the grassy plateaux, 

 wherever the locality is suitable in Formosa, this little Lark is 

 found, delighting the ear of the savage, the colonist, and the 

 adventurer alike with its sweet song as it disappears into the 

 sky. But it often also sings on the ground, or mounted on 

 some stone or prominence. In the Pescadore Islands, between 

 Formosa and the main, it is also very common, and almost the 

 only bird there. It is abundant in the south of China, from 

 Canton to Foochow. In Shanghai it is replaced by a similar 

 form, but intermediate in size and proportions between it and 

 the so-called A. arvensis of Peking and its neighbourhood. In 

 my large series of skins from Formosa there is considerable 

 variation in the length and thickness of the bill, some, in the 

 bulkiness of that organ, drawing close to the Mirafne of Africa 

 and India. For a more detailed account of this bii-d I must 

 refer my readers to the ' Zoologist.' 



83. Emberiza spodocephala. Pall. 

 E. melanops, Blyth. 



Euspiza personata of my Amoy List, Ibis, 1860, p. 6.2. 

 These Buntings visit Formosa in winter in large numbers. 

 They are identical with those procured at Amoy, and are refcr- 



VOL. V. 2 1) 



