Mr. 11. Swinhoe on the Ornithologij of Hainan. 351 



the Chinese colonist and gladdening his heart with its lively 

 movements and auspicious notes. It was breeding in February ; 

 and we frequently saw its nest, often placed in the basket-shaped 

 cross-trees of the poles that stand in front of mandarin offices, 

 and once, as I noticed in the preamble that heads this paper, in 

 the heart of the leaf-crown that tops the cocoa-nut tree. Ac- 

 cording to the Chinese 'Gazetteer' of Hainan, the Magpie was 

 introduced into Hainan a.d. 1450-56, from the Chinese main. 

 It says, " ' Tcheo,' commonly called the ' Bird of rejoicing.' 

 Hainan was originally without this bird. In the King-tai reign 

 of the Ming dynasty. Admiral Le-yih brought from Haipih 

 [north of the sea, applied to Leen-chow-foo, at the head of the 

 Gulf of Tonquin] ten or so males and females and let them loose. 

 These having bred freely, the bird has become extremely nume- 

 rous." The two examples 1 procured in Naochow island are bright 

 and very similar to the Amoy bird, but have the white on their 

 quills more extended towards their tips, but not so much as in 

 the Peking bird. My two Hainan specimens have the white 

 much as in Amoy skins. They are dull-coloured ; but they were 

 shot later in the season, and are worn from nidification. 



Hainan. 



108. Dendrocitta sinensis (Lath.). 



On the 17th of February, on my way to Shuy-wei-sze (Central 

 Hainan), a pair of these flew on to a tree by the wayside. I was 

 out of my chair in a second, and secured one : " iris deep chest- 

 nut." Among the fine woods of Shuy-wei-sze they were not un- 

 common, going about in small parties. On one occasion I was 

 attracted by a noise as of Jays quarrelling. I peered about to 

 see what it was, and found a male of this species. He was 

 standing on a twig close to his mate, and, leaning towards her, 

 kept uttering the horrid barking noise that disturbed me. The 

 mate was evidently love-stricken ; for, by her quiet and attentive 

 demeanour, she seemed enchanted with his music. 



N. S. VOL. VI. 2 G 



