Birds of North-ivest Fohkien. 183 



ture two were shot. The nest is not unknown to the natives, 

 as I heard them once talking about it. An egg and the remains 

 of a nest supposed to belong to this species were brought to 

 us by our men in the spring of 1896. The egg is greenish 

 turquoise-blue, like those of Trocholopteron cinereiceps, but it 

 is even smoother and more polished. The shape is an elongated 

 ovate, and it measures 1"16 by 0"80 inch. The remains 

 of the nest consist of a pad of bamboo-leaves, inside of which 

 there is a thin layer of fine roots, small twigs, and pine- 

 needles, securely woven together in the shape of a shallow 

 cup, about 5 inches in diameter and about ^ inch deep. 



The colours of the soft parts in this rare and charming 

 species are : — Iris grey, with an outer ring of blue ; bare skin 

 round the eye blue ; bill black at the base, apical half yellow ; 

 legs greenish lead. Length 11*5 inches. The young bird 

 differs from the adult only in having the top of the head 

 plain and in the breast being chiefly grey. There is no white 

 on the ear-coverts, and the terminal white spots on the side 

 rectrices are not so clearly defined as in the adult. The 

 general plumage is, of course, duller. 



14. PoMATORHiNUs swiNHOii David. 



This handsome Scimitar-Babbler is not at all uncommon 

 in Central and North-west Fohkien in suitable localities. 

 Among the Kuatuu Mountains we did not hear it very 

 often, but it was breeding in the forest on the top of 

 Mount David. Our collectors found there, during a previous 

 visit, a couple of deserted or old nests. One had been 

 pillaged by rats and contained broken egg-shells. 



15. POMATORHINUS STRIDULUS SwinhoC. 



Common all over Fohkien in suitable localities. We found 

 some breeding on the top of Mount David. 



Our collectors brought us down a nest and four eggs, 

 taken at Kuatun on the 27th April, 1897. The nest is an 

 oblong domed structure, made wholly of bamboo-leaves with 

 fine grass-stems and a little moss as lining. The inner 

 diameter is about 3 inches, outer diameter about 5 inches 

 by 6 inches in depth (front to back wall). The depth 



