416 Mr. B. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 
be found to be of this species. They are not so large as Euro¬ 
pean Great Snipe, but heavy Woodcock-like birds, with the tibise 
feathered almost to the joint. They generally occur singly, but 
I have put up two or three at a time. When flushed, they rise 
somewhat clumsily, with a loud cry, and hurry away with a low, 
almost straight flight. I procured a fine male specimen from 
the marshes near Taiwanfoo, on the 10th September 1861. 
" Length 11 in.; wing tail 2J, composed of 20 feathers, 
10 broad central ones and 5 narrow lateral ones on each side. 
Bill along culmen 2J in., along edge of lower mandible 2j^; 
tarsus 1]^; mid-toe 1|. Legs light yellowish grey, with blackish 
brown claws. Bill light yellowish brown for basal two-thirds, 
yellower on base of under mandible, blackish brown on apical 
third. Iris dark umber-brown. Ear placed directly under the 
eye, triangular; operculum quite exposed; skin of ear purplish 
brown. Bim round the eye the same. Inside of mouth ochreous 
flesh-colour. Stomach a long irregular oval, lined with a thin 
furrowed epithelium, containing one worm in a mass of mud-like 
indistinguishable matter. Cseca 2 inches from the anus, long 
by ^ wide. Intestine 22 in. long, from to in thickness.” 
I have compared my specimens of G. meg ala from Peking, Amoy, 
and Formosa with the Australian Great Snipe (G. hardwickii) shot 
by Capt. Blakiston at Hakodadi, North Japan, and with another 
of the same species from Australia, from Mr. Gould’s collection. 
The Australian bird is larger than ours, has a bill more spatulate 
at the end, like that of G. scolopacina; the tibise are bare to a 
greater extent, and the tail contains only sixteen feathers, of 
which the outermost is the only one much narrowed. The bill 
of our bird more resembles that of G. stenura , to which it also 
assimilates in the form of its tail. 
152. Ibis Nippon, Schlegel, Eaun. Japon. 
These birds are by no means regular in their visits. At the 
close of April, a small party of some half-dozen birds were fre¬ 
quently to be seen probing the mud of the river-shoals at Tamsuy. 
I was not, however, fortunate enough to procure an example. I 
do not think they breed on the island. The birds of the year 
are of a smoke-grey, deep on the head and neck, and nearly 
white on the wings and under parts. 
