Bii'ds of North-west Fohkien. 429 



Our collectors brought back three clutches in 1897, dated 

 18th April and 5th and 7th May, and another was taken 

 by the natives after their departure and sold to rae on our 

 arrival at Kuatun. I could not find a proper ivild nest, i. e. 

 a nest built otherwise than in an artificially made nest-hole. 



The ground-colour of the eggs is a very light reddish pink 

 or pinkish white (pale salmon-colour before blowing). The 

 markings are longitudinal spots, short streaks of irregular 

 width, or small blotches, generally more numerous round the 

 large end, where they are often confluent and form a usually 

 well-marked ring, the rest of the e^^ being but lightly 

 spotted. In one clutch, however, and in three eggs of another, 

 the ground-colour is so dark as to he a pronounced ''^old 

 pink," especially in the latter eggs, one of which is very dark 

 indeed, only marked with irregular short lines not much 

 darker than the ground-colour itself. The colour of the 

 surface-marks is a crimson-vermilion, more or less deep, and 

 more or less dulled by the violet-grey blotches which occur 

 chiefly about the larger end of the egg. The general shape 

 is a more or less broad ovate. One egg in my collection is 

 abnormally long, and it has the bulk of its colouring about 

 the apex. It measures 0*60 inch by a little over 0"40. 

 The 28 other eggs that I have range in length from 0"57 inch 

 (one egg) to 0'52 inch (seven eggs), and in breadth between 

 0*45 inch (one egg) and 0"41 inch (nine eggs). They average 

 0-54 X 0-42 inch. 



103. Terpsiphone inch (Gould). 



We obtained a female on the 6th May, and a white- 

 plumaged male in the forest on the summit of Mount David 

 on the 9th May. 



104. Terpsiphone princeps (Temm.). 



I have a young bird of this species obtained at Kuatun in 

 October 1896, and three other young birds shot in autumn 

 at Foochow. The only adult specimen as yet obtained is 

 the male recorded by Mr. Rickett (Ibis, 1894, p. 221). 



105. Hirundo gutturalis Scop. 



A few Swallows appeared at Kuatun towards the middle 



SER. VII. VOL. V. 2 G 



