Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 303 
season, laying in the first seven small, round, maroon-coloured 
eggs; in the two next, five a-piece—seldom less. The birds of the 
year are olive-green on the upper parts, with none of the blackish 
grey on the crown that adorns the adult bird. In the moult of 
the following spring the transformation into the adult plumage 
is complete. 
In August 1861 I examined some young ones at Taiwanfoo. 
They had the bills blackish brown on the culmen; the remainder 
and inside of mouth, except just a little black at the base of 
the tongue,, being bright orange-yellow. Over and under the 
eye, to base of bill, bright sulphur-yellow. Legs and claws light 
orange-ochre. 
I have a very large series of the eggs of this bird. They 
average *58 by *46, and are usually maroon-colour, obscurely 
blotched and spotted with a deeper shade of the same; but 
some have the ground-colour white, or nearly white, spotted 
chiefly at the larger end with maroon-red; others have a deep 
brownish-maroon ring round the apex, others the same round 
the middle. The spots and shades are varied in every conceivable 
way, and, in looking through the series, the size and even the 
shape are found to be by no means uniform. 
65. ClSTICOLA SCHCENICOLA, Bp. 
C. cursitans , Franklin. 
C. brunneiceps , Temm. et Schl., Faun. Japon. 
C. tintinnabulans, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1860, p. 51. 
“ Length 4J in.; wing 2^; tail 1^. Bill brownish flesh-grey, 
much darker on culmen. Iris light yellowish brown; skin 
round the eye blackish brown. Inside of mouth black. Ear- 
covert oval, nearly as large as the eye; operculum large and ex¬ 
posed. Legs and toes ochreous flesh-colour, somewhat browner 
on claws.” The above refers to a fresh specimen killed at Tamsuy 
in April. I have six specimens from Formosa, three from India, 
and several from China. The Indian birds are smaller and more 
rufescent, but they present entirely the same style of colouring 
as the rest of mine, the oldest bird having a uniform brown 
crown, as in the single individual from Japan, from which the 
description in the 1 Fauna Japonica' is taken. My Formosan 
