1863.] MR. R. SWINHOE ON THE BIRDS OF CHINA. 295 



170. CiSTICOLA SCHCENICOLA, Bp. 



C. cursitans, Franklin. 



C. brunneicephala, Temm. & Schleg. Faun. Jap. 



C. tintinnabulans, Swinhoe. 



Common at Shanghai in summer, extending its range to Pekin. 

 The majority from the north wend southwards, and pass the winter 

 in South China, at which season only I have found it near Amoy. In 

 south-west Formosa it is resident. It has also been noted from 

 Japan, but not from the Amoor. I have, in company with Mr. Tris- 

 tram, compared Chinese, Formosan, and Indian examples with Euro- 

 pean specimens, and can note no tangible diiferences. 



171. Phyllopneuste fuscata. 



Phylloscopus fuscatus, Blyth, J. A. S. xi. p. 113; xii. p. 965. 



Phyllopneuste sibiriea, Middendorff, Sib. Reise, ii. tab. 16. 



Summers in Siberia, North China, and Amoorland, and winters in 

 South China and the plains of Hindostan. A few, I suspect, stay all 

 the year in South China. It varies much in size and length of wing. 

 I have one very large specimen from Amoy, evidently only an indi- 

 vidual variety. 



172. Phyllopneuste tenellipes. 



Phylloscopus tenellipes, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1860, p. 53. 



Found about Amoy and South China during winter ; probably 

 winters in North China, but has not yet been noted thence> nor yet 

 from the Amoor. I have three specimens from Amoy. Length 4*4 ; 

 wing 2'3 ; tail 1*9. Bill brown, paler at edges, tip, and base of 

 gonys ; inside of mouth light yellow. Legs and claws pale flesh- 

 colour. This is one of the most distinct species of this group, and 

 in colouring holds a place between the foregoing brown bird and the 

 greener forms. 



173. Phyllopneuste sylvicultrix. 



Phylloscopus sylvicultrix, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1860, p. 53. 



P.javanica (Horsf.), Blasius, Ibis, 1862, p. 69? 



I have nearly 200 examples of this species from Amoy, which differ 

 in general size, in the length and bulk of the bill, in the length of the 

 wings and of the first primary, and in the tints of the tarse. Were 

 two of the extreme forms taken separately, some naturalists would 

 be inclined to set them down as distinct species ; but with my large 

 series of every intermediate grade and form before one, the special 

 points of distinction disappear, and one cannot help avowing them all 

 to be the same. In this view Mr. Tristram, who has kindly exa- 

 mined them with me, entirely concurs. All the Chinese forms of 

 Phyllopneuste, with the exception of the P. fuscata, show more or 

 less yellowish spots on the wing — a distinction which does not appear 

 to be shared by any of the European forms. In this character the 

 wings of our birds show some affinity to the well-banded wing of 

 the Reguloides group, to which they further approximate in the 

 shape of their tails. 



