Birds of North-west Fuhkien. 189 



the ground, the bamboo being but a few yards from the 

 path. It was then empty. On the 14th we returned and 

 found the hen sitting. She only flew ofl', when the bamboo 

 was touched^ to perch on a neighbouring tree, where I shot 

 her to make quite sure of the identity of the nest. There 

 were three eggs quite fresh. The nest is one of the most 

 beautiful that I have ever seen. It is a carefully-finished 

 cup, with broad bulging sides (especially on one side) , made 

 of strips of bamboo fastened together with cobwebs and 

 spiders' nests. It is lined with fine strips of grass. The 

 outer diameter is 4 inches, the outer depth 3| inches ; the 

 inner diameter is 2| inches, and the depth of the cup 

 2| inches. The eggs resemble those of the first clutch, but 

 the clouds are more numerous, more broken up, and more 

 distributed over the whole egg. These eggs have a cap of 

 lilac-grey underlying spots on the large end. The shape of 

 one is a nearly exact oval, and the other two are a broad 

 ovate with blunt and much rounded apex. They measure 

 0-85 X 0-67, 0-81 x 067, and 0-82 x 0'64 inch. 



24. SuTHORA WEBBiANA Gray. 



The comparison of a series of N.W. Fohkien specimens 

 of this bird with some skins from Peking, Shanghai, and 

 Ichang, which I owe to the generosity of Mr. F. W. Sty an, 

 and with a single, but especially good and perfect, skin 

 (apparently typical) of Suthora bulomachus from Korth 

 Formosa, induces me to make the following remarks on this 

 variable species. 



I will first state that my Formosan skin, a male shot on 

 the 25th November near Hobe, in North Formosa, differs 

 from all my 28 Chinese skins : — 



[a) By the paler rosy colour of the sides of the head, in 

 absolute contrast with the red of the top of the 

 head ; 



{b) By its very pale throat; and 



(f ) By the larger size of its bill. 



Our Kuatun breeding birds do not differ conspicuously 

 among themselves ; all have the intensely ruddy head and 



