Birds of North-west Fohklen. 207 



this Warbler. I noted it down at the time ; it was like 

 "chee-chuckee-chuckee-chuckee-chuckee/' 



The food, as ascertained by dissection^ consists of cater- 

 pillars, small beetles, and ants. From what I could see of 

 the bird, its habits resembled those of the Grasshopper- 

 Warblers and their allies, rather than the ways of our Chinese 

 Cettias, which are bush-loving birds, seldom or never showing 

 themselves, except on trees or in brushwood. 



The ten examples shot on the last expedition differ from 

 those described by the Rev. H. H. Slater in having an 

 absolutely unspotted throat ; they all resemble one another 

 and bear a close resemblance to Homochlamys brevipennis 

 Verreaux, but the bill and other proportions of this bird are 

 larger, its tail-feathers have a light shaft, and the colour of 

 the sides of the head are different. The soft parts of Tribura 

 russula are : iris dark greyish brown ; upper mandible and 

 point of lower mandible blackish, sides of upper mandible 

 and lower mandible pink, the lower mandible yellow towards 

 the gape ; legs pink. Total length of six, measured in the 

 flesh :—S- 5-7, 5-8, 5-9 inches; ? . 5-6, 5'7, 5*9 inches. 



47. Cettia canturiens (Swinhoe). 



Two were shot at Kuatun on the 19th May, 1897, by our 

 collectors. On the last trip, during a walk over the grass- 

 lands, one of them declared he could hear the bird's song. 

 It must be rare there as a breeding species. 



48. Cettia sinensis La Touche. 



Examples in breeding-plumage are very white underneath, 

 with the flanks of a much lighter tint than winter birds. 

 Legs flesh-colour ; feet darker ; claws grey. 



This species is common in winter on the lower hills and 

 in the valleys of Fohkien ; and also in summer in the 

 valley of Upper Kuatun, about the lower limit of the grass- 

 lands, from 4000 to 5000 feet. Its curious call was con- 

 stantly heard from the thorny thickets and thick brushwood 

 in that locality, the bird being very difflcult to shoot or 

 even see. Mr. Styan has described in 'The Ibis' (1891, 

 p. 341) the song of the Yangtze Cettia, which is probably the 



