Birds. 



8755 



meet after the business of the day is over and amuse themselves till 

 nightfall. They mostly build three nests in the course of the season, 

 occasionally four, laying in the first nest usually five eggs, in the 

 others that succeed three. In the interior the nest is large and deep 

 for the size of the bird ; it is usually made of grasses, lined with finer 

 samples ; but in the materials these birds are by no means particular, 

 almost anything they can gather, such as scraps of paper, cotton, 

 cloths, leaves and feathers, being added. In the site too they are not 

 regular ; any bush or tree, of almost any height from the ground, will 

 serve their purpose ; and in the usual choice of their position they 

 show as little discernment as the hedge sparrow {Accentor modularis) 

 at home, frequently placing their nests in most exposed situations. 

 They generally nestle in gardens close to the habitations of Chinese, 

 and, being familiar birds, are protected. When their nest is ap- 

 proached, they make a great chattering ; but they have far less to 

 fear from man than from magpies and Garrulaces. Their eggs are of 

 a purplish white ground-colour, spotted closely and often confusedly 

 with dark shades of brownish purple-gray. 



48. Spizixos semitorques, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1861, p. 266. 



49. Oriolus chinensis, L. 



50. Psaropholus ardens, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1862, p. 363, pi. 13. 



51. Herpornis xanthochlora, Hodgs. 



52. Zosterops simplex, Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 317. The 

 Formosan bird is identical with that found throughout Southern 

 China, from Canton to Foochow. In winter it roams about in small 

 parties, like the tits, from tree to tree, searching every tree for Aphides 

 and other small insects. When engaged in the pursuit of its food, it 

 hangs in all manner of attitudes, uttering the while a peculiar call- 

 note. In spring it utters a short, sweet song. It is a bird very easily 

 tamed in confinement, even when kept several together ; and in most 

 towns in South China it may be seen as a cage-bird. At feeding time 

 they are particularly lively ; but when satiated settle on their perch, 

 sidling up to their companions, and, after caressing one another for a 

 short time, all ruffle their feathers and dip their heads under their 

 wings. The siesta they take is not long. They all wake up suddenly 

 and feed again, the males often putting forward the head and singing 

 their soft melodious notes. This habit of taking mid-day siestas I 

 have also observed in the Parus caudatus in confinement. The Zos- 

 terops is very fond of bathing ; and for food, besides insects, is partial 

 to fruit, showing an especial fondness for plantains or bananas, 

 on which it may be almost entirely sustained. 



