416 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 



be found to be of this species. They are not so large as Euro- 

 pean Great Snipe, but heavy Woodcock-like birds, with the tibise 

 feathered almost to the joint. They generally occur singly, but 

 I have put up two or three at a time. When flushed, they rise 

 somewhat clumsily, with a loud cry, and hurry away with a low, 

 almost straight flight. I procured a fine male specimen from 

 the marshes near Taiwanfoo, on the 10th September 1861. 

 " Length 11^ in. ; wing 5^^; tail 3^, composed of 20 feathers, 

 10 broad central ones and 5 narrow lateral ones on each side. 

 Bill along culmen 2^ in., along edge of lower mandible 2^ ; 

 tarsus 1^; mid-toe 1^. Legs light yellowish grey, with blackish 

 brown claws. Bill light yellowish brown for basal two-thirds, 

 yellower on base of under mandible, blackish brown on apical 

 third. Iris dark umber-brown. Ear placed directly under the 

 eye, triangular ; operculum quite exposed ; skin of ear purplish 

 brown. Rim round the eye the same. Inside of mouth ochreous 

 flesh-colour. Stomach a long irregular oval, lined with a thin 

 furrowed epithelium, containing one worm in a mass of mud-like 

 indistinguishable matter. Cseca 2 inches from the anus, ^ long 

 by j^ wide. Intestine 22 in. long, from -^ to j'^ in thickness." 

 I have compared my specimens oiG.megala from Peking, Amoy, 

 and Formosa with the Australian Great Snipe (G. hardwickii) shot 

 by Capt. Blakiston at Hakodadi, North Japan, and with another 

 of the same species from Australia, from Mr. Gould's collection. 

 The Australian bird is larger than ours, has a bill more spatulate 

 at the end, like that of G, scolopacina ; the tibiae are bare to a 

 greater extent, and the tail contains only sixteen feathers, of 

 which the outermost is the only one much narrowed. The bill 

 of our bird more resembles that of G. stenura, to which it also 

 assimilates in the form of its tail. 



152. Ibis nippon, Schlegel, Faun. Japon. 



These birds are by no means regular in their visits. At the 

 close of April, a small party of some half-dozen birds were fre- 

 quently to be seen probing the mud of the river-shoals at Tamsuy. 

 I was not, however, fortunate enough to procure an example. I 

 do not think they breed on the island. The birds of the year 

 are of a smoke-grey, deep on the head and neck, and nearly 

 white on the wings and under parts. 



