THE I B I S 



SEVENTH SERIES, 



No. III. JULY 1895. 



XXV. — Notes on South Formosa and its Birds. 

 By John D. de La Touche. 



I. — Narrative of the Expedition of 1893. 



I LEFT Amoy on tlie 30tb October^ 1893, for Tainan *^ the port 

 in South Formosa open to foreign trade, Mr. A. Macgowan 

 (of Messrs. Tait & Co., Amoy) having kindly asked me to 

 come over and visit him at Anping^ and thence go up country 

 to collect birds; 



The morning of the 31st saw us not many miles distant 

 from the coast. The high mountains, which form the back- 

 bone of Formosa, appeared in the far distance, plainly visible 

 at sunrise, but soon to disappear as the sun rose over the 

 horizon. Drawing near the low surf-beaten coast, we headed 

 for a clump of trees and some houses, surmounted by a low 

 mound, where the old Dutch fort stands, and anchored out- 

 side the Auping bar, about a mile and a half from the shore. 

 On landing I found breakfast waiting at Mr. Baiu^s house, 

 during which I ascertained that an expedition to Baksa, a 



* Formerly called Taiwanf oo, the capital of South Formosa. It is about 

 three miles inland. The shipping ports of Tainan are Takow and Anping, 

 but the former, some 2o miles down the coast, is now almost deserted. 



SER. VII. VOL. I. Z 



