176 Mr. J. D. D. La Touclie on the 



this may be, these grassy heights are now tenanted hy grass- 

 frequenting birds, such as Tribura russula, Suya crinigera, 

 and Emberiza fucata, and it is mueh to be regretted that 

 the thick mists which wrapped the higher parts of the 

 country during our stay prevented us from searching these 

 grasslands to our satisfaction. 



The saddle between the two highest points of Mount David 

 and some of the steep ravines leading down from the top of 

 this mountain are clad with damp woods, which are composed 

 of stunted deciduous trees, generally covered with moss and 

 lichen, while there is a thick undergrowth of dwarf bamboo. 

 In this high forest, 6000 to 6500 feet above sea-level, we pro- 

 cured some of our most interesting birds and three of our 

 novelties. Brachypteryx sinensis, B. Carolina, and Proparus 

 guttaticollis have, until now, only been obtained there. 

 Other high-altitude birds, such as Suthora verreauxi, Tro- 

 chalopteron milni, Silviparus modesius, and Niltava sundara, 

 are also to be found up there from spring to autumn, while a 

 fair number of other species, not peculiar to these heights, 

 nest there in numbers,Z//o^/?ri<r /M/ea in particular abounding 

 during the nesting-season. The bad weather which prevented 

 exploration of the grasslands was also the cause of our failure 

 to properly work the high forest in May, for the difficulty of 

 the climb and the descent, as well as the cold and damp 

 encountered on the collecting-ground, proved too much for 

 even our hardy and sure-footed native hunters. 



Fathers Masip and Valencia of Shaowufu, and Father 

 Verges the missionary in charge of Kuatun, very kindly 

 came up from the lowlands to visit us while we were staying 

 at Kuatun. They gave us interesting information on the 

 locality, and told us that the Kuatun Mountains are the 

 highest in that part of Fohkien. To Father Masip I am 

 indebted for an excellent map of N.W. Fohkien. We left 

 Kuatun on the 20th May, and after two days' journey over 

 the mountains in a south-westerly direction, reached Shao- 

 wufu, a city on the banks of the western branch of the 

 river Min, where we were most hospitably received by 

 Fathers Masip and Valencia, and, after a day's rest at the 

 Mission, we left for Foochow on the WXuA Mav. 



