Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 275 
the town, about which they are constantly to be seen chasing- 
one another, and singing their agreeable notes. 
34. Oreocincla hancii, n. sp. 
I have two Thrushes of this form, one shot at Amoy, and 
the other in North Formosa. They are both males, and both 
procured in March, when the adult plumage ought to have been 
acquired. They are of about the same size, and differ very tri- 
flingly, if at all, in their bills and legs. The Chinese bird has 
a white throat, and is marked with rich olive and ochre; the 
Formosan has a spotted throat, and has scarcely any of the rich 
ochreous tinge. Birds of the same species often vary in colour; 
and these differences, therefore, are hardly worth noticing, except 
in connexion with the measurements of the wings and tail. The 
Formosan has the 2nd quill nearly half shorter than the 3rd, 
whereas the Chinese has it not quite r 3 n shorter, and the whole 
wing of the former is 3% longer than that of the latter. The 
tail, too, of the former is longer and somewhat more graduated. 
All these, however, may be only individual peculiarities. In the 
true Thrushes, size and proportions are very various, and pro¬ 
bably also in the Oreocincla. And as to variety in colour, we 
need not go to the allied Turdi ; compare only the young Oreo¬ 
cincla with the adult bird. I have, nevertheless, thought it right 
to consider the Formosan provisionally as a distinct species. The 
Chinese bird I believe to be the true 0. aurea (Turdus whitei). 
Length 11^ in.; wing 6 T 8 ^; tail 4J, of 14 feathers. Upper 
mandible and apical third of lower blackish brown, the rest of 
lower and edge of upper being light brownish flesh-yellow. Legs 
light flesh-ochre, deeper and browner on the toes. Claws brown, 
with pale edges. This specimen was brought to me on the 
20th March, by my hunters, from the mountain forests of the 
interior. I never met with it alive in Formosa. The Chinese 
bird I have only seen twice, both times in our garden at Amoy, 
which they visited two years running, for the sake of the banyan- 
figs, which were then ripe. The only note I heard them utter 
was a long-drawn “seep” like that of our other Thrushes*. 
* I have named the Formosan Oreocincla after my friend Dr. Hance, 
Her Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Whampoa, so justly celebrated for his re¬ 
searches in Chinese Botany.—R. S. 
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