424 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology . 
roosting in daylight in company, among osiers or bamboos, on the 
banks of inland waters, and rambling about in the twilight and 
darkness of night in search of food. In the darkest nights their 
loud kwa may be heard as the birds are winging their way over¬ 
head. The Chinese call them Am-kong cheow, or bird of dark¬ 
ness, and look upon them with superstitious dread. They are 
thought to have some connexion with evil spirits; and as it 
is the Chinese custom to propitiate the evil demons, that they 
may not play any of their mad pranks on humanit}/, so they 
give protection to these their birds. In large cities superstition 
is laughed down, and not so prevalent ; we therefore, in the For¬ 
mosan capital, were not thought to commit any great sin in 
disturbing the ill-hallowed bird; but among the country-people 
at Tamsuy, the villagers for miles round would flock to us when 
we were out with guns, and beg us not to disturb a colony of 
Night-Herons that had commenced nesting-operations in a fine 
bamboo-grove. This plantation of tall bamboos, mixed occa¬ 
sionally with longans and other trees, was on a hemp-farm of 
some four acres, which it entirely encircled. The flock of Night- 
Herons, about 200 or more in number, showed themselves about 
this wood for the first time in March. For a fortnight they 
merely made it their roosting-site for the day. In April all was 
excitement, fighting and building; and towards the middle of 
the month many of the birds were laying. In the first few days 
of April a large colony of Egrets ( Herodias garzetta ) came to the 
same trees; and about the middle of the month a large flock 
of Yellowheads ( Buphus coromandus). At first the confusion 
was very great, the flocks of the several species coming into 
constant collision; but before the end of April all seemed ami¬ 
cably arranged, and you could often see on the same tree several 
nests of the three distinct Herons, the females of each sitting, 
and the males standing by to protect. This large mingled 
heronry was a most interesting sight; and many times on a fine 
evening, I have taken boat and crossed over to the Heron-farm 
to view it. The farm-house stood at one end of the planta¬ 
tion ; and its inhabitants were always courteous and kind, and 
allowed me to roam about their grounds as I pleased. A small 
wood of large trees stood close to the cluster of huts, and these 
