Mr. R. Swinhoe on the Ornithology of Hainan. 359 



the Game Birds of Hainan, says, " There is there a Jungle-cock, 

 which is of an exquisite taste/^ 



The Chinese 'Gazetteer^ remarks, under the characters "Shan- 

 ke" (or Hill-fowl), " Loves to see its plumage reflected in the 

 water, when it dances. During the reign of the Emperor Woote, 

 of the Wei dynasty [a.d. 499-514], the southern regions pre- 

 sented this bird as tribute. If a large mirror be placed before 

 the fowl, he sees his form reflected and dances without stop- 

 ping." 



A mandarin in Hainan informed me that Lui-chow-foo (the 

 peninsula opposite to Hainan) produces a bird like a fowl, with 

 longer legs, called the '^Luy-kung-tsai" (Child of Lightning). 

 This may interest some"^. 



128. Francolinus sinensis (Osbeck). 



F. pintadeus (Scop.); F. perlatus (Gmel.). 



The South- China Francolin was common everywhere in Hai- 

 nan, and we repeatedly heard its loud note. At Lingshuy (S. E. 

 Hainan), I bought three males from a Chinese bird-catcher. 

 He had caught them by a slip noose, with the help of a decoy 

 bird. On our return to the capital (2nd April) we found them 

 extremely common about the grave-covered plains, and often 

 saw, as we passed along the road from the sea-port to the city, 

 a cock Francolin perched on the top of a grave-mound shriek- 

 ing out its loud call. The Hainan skins are similar to those 

 from South China. 



The Chinese * Gazetteer' says of this bird, " the * Chay-koo ' 



* It would be as well liere to remark on tlie Peacocks which I saw in 

 an aviary at the residence of the Governor of Hainan, and thought (Ibis, 

 1868, p. 353 ; P. Z. S. 1868, p. 530) were Pavo nigripennis^ Sclater, from 

 the blaclniess of their wing-coverts. These birds, the Governor informed 

 me, came from Cochin China, and had, as far as I can recollect, a crest 

 shaped like that of P. muticus, and not like that of P. cristatus. I find, 

 on my return to England, that IVIr. Sclater 's bird has the latter; and 

 therefore I regret that I was so hasty in identifying the Cochin-Chinese 

 bird ^\ith the P. nic/ripennis. On my last visit to England, I took note 

 of the then new species ; but my attention was not called to the shape of 

 its crest, and I was led rather to regard the difference of its wing. Hence 

 it is likely that the Cochin-Chinese species may be P. muticus after all. 



