Mr. R. Swinhoe on Furmosan Ornithology. 391 



hilly regions about Tamsuy. It is usual, in the Woodpecker 

 group, for the more northerly birds to have whiter tails ; but in 

 this respect our Formosan examples offer the reverse of the rule, 

 for the southern specimen has broader whitish bands and nar- 

 rower blackish ones than the northern specimens. This may, 

 however, be owing to age or some other cause. The two birds 

 are otherwise too similar to admit of separation. There is a 

 strong resemblance between the Formosan and the North China 

 forms ; but the latter are at once distinguishable by their white 

 instead of barred axillaries, by the outer tail-feathers being yel- 

 lowish white, with but very faint indications of bars, by the back 

 being almost entirely white, by all the spots on the plumage 

 being larger, and by the black streaks on the under parts being 

 narrower and much fainter. They are certainly more distinct 

 from each other than most of the numerous species into which 

 this group is divided. 



6 , shot 10th October 1861. Length Gy^ in.; wing 3j^; 

 tail 2^. Bill light leaden grey, blackish towards the tip, and 

 tinged with greenish yellow at basal half of lower mandible. 

 Inside of mouth flesh-colour, tinged with violet-grey. Skin 

 round the eye blackish grey, with black rim. Iris reddish brown. 

 Legs greenish grey ; claws same, with pale bases. Fore part of 

 crown brownish grey. Occiput, back, and wings black ; lower 

 part of back broadly barred with white ; white spots on the wing, 

 somewhat scanty ; spots on some of the lesser coverts large. 

 Four central rectrices black, the vent with a pale ochreous outer 

 edge ; the one that follows with a broad outer edge, the tip and a 

 zigzag bar of light brownish ochre ; the extreme lateral feathers 

 with the basal edge, the tip, and two well-defined bars of the 

 same. A light brown streak runs from the corner of the eye 

 across each cheek ; another of light blackish brown runs from 

 the lower mandible down the neck. Throat and axillaries white, 

 the latter banded with black. Under parts dingy ochreous, with 

 broad blackish-brown streaks on the breast, and narrower ones 

 on the belly and flanks. The male carries a streak of carmine 

 on each side of the occiput, which is wanting in the female. 



6 . Heart ^ in. by ^. Liver, right lobe -/^ in., left ^q. Rings 

 on trachea and bronchi, especially on the latter, widely set. 



