6228 



Fauna of Amoy. 



some accident in the beginning of his career he had one of his eyes 

 knocked out, when the other orb seemed to increase in size and 

 lustre, and make up somewhat for the lost eye. The iris was of 

 a dark golden yellow ; but his great cat-like head, with long feathery 

 horns, which he alw^ays erected when irritated, — his loud snap of the 

 bill and hiss of alarm, and flap of his expansive wings, used to be the 

 admiration of all who saw him. In very hot weather he used to shake 

 the skin of his throat with mouth open, in the same manner as 

 turkeys do. 



A sparrow owl {Nyctlpeles, Swain.), and a small tawny Scops owl 

 (probably Scops rufescens of Horsfield), are seen occasionally in 

 winter. 



We will pass more rapidly now through the next and most exten- 

 sive order, that of the perchers (Insessores), and I will only make 

 slight mention of a few^ of the species that are strictly indigenous to 

 Amoy. At their head stands the large batcher bird, or shrike 

 (LaniuSy Schach), nearly always to be met with in the valleys, 

 uttering his discordant cries. It is the Pe-16 of the natives. 



Among the Merulidoe, or thrushes, the blackbird and rock thrush 

 {Peirocincla violacea) are always with us, the former enlivening our 

 gardens by his rich full notes, and the latter enchanting the lonely 

 wanderer among the bleak hills with his wild minstrelsy, as he sings 

 from the summit of a monstrous boulder, or springs lightly into tlie 

 air, trolling forth his merry roundelay. It may be mentioned that the 

 blackbird here, though very similar, is yet not the same as our black- 

 bird at home ; he differs not only in being of greater size, and in the 

 colouring of the female, but also in his call-note. The rock thrush 

 and blackbird are taken by the Chinese for one and the same, and 

 are called Ok^ee, though one is blue and red, and the other black. 



The most familiar and perhaps best known is the magpie robin 

 [Gryllivora)^ a small bird of the pied plumage of a magpie, with the 

 habits and peculiarities of a robin. Its song, poured out at early 

 morn or sunset from the roof-tops of our houses, is occasionally 

 pretty, but abounding in harsh and jarring notes. Like the redbreast 

 at home, it is very quarrelsome, and sings in defiance when engaged 

 in duels with others of its tribe ; but few engagements prove mortal, 

 except in the pairing season, when it is not uncommon to find the 

 defeated gallants skulking about, and seeking for holes that may 

 suffice them at once for deathbed and coffin. Its native name is 

 Sze^-he, which means resembling the magpie," and it is here vulgarly 

 called Chuy-k^am-ch'e. 



