Mr. R. Swinhoe on the Ornithology of Hainan. 239 



specimen was shot on the 30th of March, there is no reason to 

 suppose that the summer dress would appear otherwise, all the 

 birds having the lateral yellow breast-tufts well developed. 



In a former 'Ibis' (1865, p. 30), Mr. Blyth stated that the 

 Derby Museum contained a specimen of his A. flammaxillaris , 

 labelled " from China, very rare." I thought that possibly that 

 specimen might be from the west coast of China, and might 

 turn out to be our species. I therefore wrote to Mr. T. J. 

 Moore, Curator of that Museum, to make inquiries. Mr. Moore 

 very obligingly sent me the following reply : — " Our specimen 

 of Nectarinia flammaxillaris, Blyth (still bearing Blyth's own 

 determination in pencil on two labels attached), is certainly 

 labelled ' from China, very rare ' ; but it was obtained by Lord 

 Derby from ' Mr. T. I\I. Williams, June 1847,' and not from Mr. 

 Fortune. Williams, I believe, was a London dealer, from whom 

 Lord Derby made frequent purchases -, but I am not aware that 

 any birds from Fortune (of which we have many) were obtained 

 otherwise than directly. . . . The bird shows no trace of 

 a dark metallic forehead, but is there of the same tint as the rest 

 of the upper plumage ; the dark blue metallic tint of the throat 

 and chin comes fully up to the eye, and thence to the beak, but 

 not further.'' 



This shows satisfactorily that the bird in the Derby Museum 

 is not our A. rhizophorce, but the true A. flammaxillaris, Blyth ; 

 whether from China or not is uncertain, and I do not think it 

 safe to admit A. flammaxillaris into the China list until we have 

 better proof of its existence within Chinese limits. 



40. DiCiEUM CRUENTATUM (Linn.). 



Before I left Amoy, I ascertained that this pretty little 

 Flower-pecker occurred not uncommonly in the hill-ranges, 

 seventy miles or so from that port. In Hainan it was every- 

 where a common species among bamboos or trees. The males, 

 with their gaudy scarlet backs, are fond of showing themselves 

 on the conspicuous points of trees, fluttering, and uttering re- 

 peatedly their loud " tic-tic" notes. The females are attracted, 

 and reply with a " tweet," but seldom leave the cover of the 

 leaves. The bird has the straight fluttering flight of a Spar- 



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