540 Letters, 'Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c. 



In my last letter I advised you of the discovery of a Formosan 

 Chalcophajis, and described the male [antea, p. 357]. Oa the 

 18th April I procured a fine specimen of the female, which, 

 compared with the male, might be taken for a distinct species. 

 On the breast of this example are one or two white feathers, 

 which may be due either to albinism or immaturity. I think, 

 the former. It was proved to be a female by dissection. The 

 crop was full of hard black seeds, like irregularly shaped pepper- 

 corns. 



Chalcophaps formosana, $ . Bill and legs not so brightly 

 coloured as in the male. Forehead and an irregular streak over 

 the eye cinereous. Crown, sides of neck, nape, and upper part 

 of the back liver-brown, shot with a lovely purple-pink. Axil- 

 laries, edge of anterior primaries, and patch on under-quills 

 cinnamon. Wing-coverts and tertials for the greater part of the 

 length coppery green, or green reflecting fiery hues ; some of the 

 dorsal feathers tipped with the same, and, the brown bases being 

 concealed, forming a nearly complete mantle. Lower part of the 

 back blackish brown with two cross-bars (about '75 inch apart) 

 of finely mottled dingy white ; the lower band edged with grey. 

 Rump light chestnut-brown, bordered with blackish. Quills 

 brown, those of the tail deeper in colour. The outer tail- 

 feathers cinereous, with a grey-tipped broad black end ; the 

 next with the basal two-thirds rich chestnut, and a brownish 

 extremity ; the next with the chestnut less bright, and so on till 

 the middle ones are reached, which are brown altogether. The 

 under-parts pale russet, with the throat, cheeks, and belly paler 

 than the rest. Length about 8*75 inches; wing 5*62 inches ; 

 tail 3"5 inches, rounded and wedged. First quill about "4 inch 

 shorter than the second, which is equal to the third and "2 inch 

 shorter than the fourth. 



The other green Dove, Treron formosa, was shot a few miles 

 from here by a Chinese sportsman. It was a male ; but it reached 

 me plucked ! You can imagine how wild I vi^as. I hope, how- 

 ever, to get a male to describe before the warm season is over. 

 At present the species rests on a female which I procured in 

 1861. From its rarity, it would appear to be a mountain bird. 

 Turtur humilis is now the commonest Dove. T. chinensis, a 



