2G4 MR. R. SWINIIOK ON THE BIRDS OF CHINA. [Juiie 23, 



Found as a summer visitant in China, from Amoy to Talien Bay ; 

 also in Formosa. Not noticed in von Schrenck's 'Amurland.' 



37. Cypselus subfurcatus, Blyth, J. A. S. xviii. 



C. affinis, var., Strickland, P. Z. S. 1846, p. 99. 



Larger than C. affinis, J. Gr., and of a much blacker and glossier 

 colour, with much more white on the throat ; tail longer and sub- 

 furcate. Approaches C. vittatus more nearly than C. affinis does. 

 Sexes alike. Wings vary somewhat in length in individuals. Re- 

 sident on the Chinese coast not much higher than Amoy, whence it 

 langes southwards to Malacca. Found also in southern Formosa. 



Upupid^. 



38. Upupa epops, L. 



TJ. vulgaris, Pall. 



A resident bird throughout China, from Canton to Talien Bay. 

 Found also in Amoorland, according to von Schrenck. Chinese speci- 

 mens identical with the European bird. Some individuals are strongly 

 imbued with a rufous tinge. The young are at once distinguishable 

 by their much shorter bills. Builds in holes of walls and exposed 

 Chinese coffins. The younglings call for food with a hissing note. 

 The male during the breeding- season utters its song of love, " Hoo- 

 hoo-hoo." To produce these notes the bird draws the air into its 

 trachea, which puffs out on either side of the neck, and the end of 

 the bill is tapped perpendicularly against a stone or the trunk of a 

 tree, when the breath being forced down the tubular bill produces 

 the correct sound. I have watched a male crying on a rope, where, 

 instead of striking its bill, it merely jerked its head. The song then 

 given forth was quite different, sounding more like "hoh-hoh-hoh." 

 Feeds on worms, for which it stamps the ground with its feet, clutch- 

 ing them by the head with its bill. It bruises the worm by beating 

 it against the ground, and then, throwing up its head, jerks it down 

 to its small mouth, and finally swallows it. 



CUCULID^. 



39. EUDYNAMYS ORIENTALIS. 



Cuculus orientalis, niger, mindanensis, et scolopaceus, L. 

 G. maculatus, Gmel. 



A summer visitant to the extreme south of China ; common about 

 Canton. I have a specimen from Swatow ; but I do not think it 

 ranges much higher. I have never found it at Amoy. For an ac- 

 count of the bird as observed at Canton, see The Ibis, 1861, p. 46. 



40. Cuculus canorus, L. 



I have a series of each of two forms from China, both of which Mr. 

 Blyth refers to C. canorus. I have a skin from Tientsin, one from 

 Peking, and a third from Foochow — all undoubtedly true C. canorus, 

 with white underparts banded with narrow bars, and the axillaries 



