Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 205 
thence southward, Kia-ne Hien and ChanghwaHien respectively. 
The Taifang Ting presides over the sea-board of Taiwan Hien 
and Fungshan Hien; the Loo-keang Ting over that of the two 
other counties. Further north we have the Tamsuy Ting, com¬ 
prising the north coast, from lat. 24° 33' to the N.E. corner. The 
Komalan Ting includes all the acquired territory on the east coast 
as far down as Sawo; and the Panghoo Ting extends over the 
group of islands called the Pescadores, off the west coast. From 
July to the middle of November I collected in the counties of 
Taiwan Hien and Fungshan Hien, both of which, for the most 
part, consist of one vast alluvial plain, interspersed with a few 
solitary hills, not exceeding 2000 feet. There are high moun¬ 
tains in the background, but these I did not visit. This part 
of the country is highly cultivated with rice, sugar-canes, &c., 
interspersed with fine groves of bamboos and other trees. In¬ 
land, water is abundantly supplied by ponds and numerous small 
rivers, which, however, choke themselves before debouching into 
the sea, and are useless for navigation. From December to the 
9th May I passed in the Tamsuy Ting, on the north-east coast. 
There we had a moderately fine river, winding down from a long 
chain of high mountains, which are said to run nearly north 
and south, and to divide Formosa into a flat low country on the 
west and a rocky mountainous country on the east. The 
neighbourhood of Tamsuy abounds in small valley-plains, well 
watered and cultivated, but for the most part in hills and undu¬ 
lations, all, however, cleared of their pristine verdure, and now 
covered with coarse grass, with an occasional hill-side patch of 
wood. The hills in the immediate vicinity do not exceed 3000 
feet; but the river gives communication to the lofty forest- 
covered range of mountains, which are plainly visible on clear 
days, the furthermost covered with snow as late as April. The 
highest mountain in Formosa has been set down as 12,000 feet. 
It is to this mountain-range, which I visited, and over which 
my hunters constantly rambled, that I owe most of my novelties. 
As far south as lat. 24° 30' the country on the west coast par¬ 
takes of a similar character to that prevailing at Tamsuy. Below 
this the ground is less undulatory and more flat until you reach 
lat. 22° 25', when the hills again approach the sea. The north 
