17 [Vol.xxiii. 



of strips of bark of the large heath, whicli grows plentifully 

 ia the forests, and a few feathers. 



" The nest of Si/lvia sarda is also one which has been 

 seldom taken by a naturalist. In this case the noale was 

 incubating and allowed himself to be touched with the 

 hand before leaving the eggs. The nest is considerably 

 larger than that of S. undata. 



" I also procured a clutch of 5 eggs of the local race 

 of Tree-Creeper, Certhia familiaris corsa, and believe it 

 to be the first ever taken, but the eggs ditl'er little from 

 those of other races. ■'^ 



Mr. J. D. La Touche forwarded the following description 

 of a new species of Sand-Martin from China : — 



COTJLE FOHKIENENSIS, sp. n. 



Adult male and female. — Near C. riparia, but smaller, and 

 with a nearly square tail. Uniform pale brownish-grey above, 

 lighter on the rump. Underparts pure white, with a rather 

 pale brownish-grey band across the breast. "Wing 3'7 to 4 in. ; 

 tail 1-7 to 1-78 in., depth of fork of tail 0-15 to 0-25 in. 



Obs. This Saud-Martin is a resident in the province of 

 Fohkien, in South-east China. It summers at Chinkiang, 

 on the Lower Yangtze. Mr. Rickett and I confounded 

 it with C. riparia, which is a much larger and darker bird^ 

 with a comparatively deeply-forked tail. I have lately 

 obtained examples of the true C. ripaina, L., on migration on 

 the coast of Kiangsu, and I procured C. sinensis in Formosa. 

 The Fohkien Sand-Martin is intermediate between the two, 

 having the pale-coloured upperparts and smaller proportions 

 of the latter ; a tuft of feathers on the tarsus and a pectoral 

 band, as in C. riparia "^. 



* [From C. diluta, Sharpe & Wyatt, from Tashkend, it is distinguished 

 by its nearly square tail and its altogether darker coloration. 



The bird procured by Mr. Pratt at Ichang, as well as specimens from 

 Madras (J^rdon) and Pushut, Afghanistan (Griffith), referred with 

 doubt by Dr. Sharpe to C. diluta (Sharpe & AVyatt, Mon. Hirund. i. 

 p. 03), appear to be referable to C. fuhkituensis, La Touche. — Ed.I 



b VOL. XXIII. 



