426 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 
d, in summer. “ Length 16 in.; wing 8^; tail 3^, of ten 
feathers. Bill bright yellow, washed, on the upper mandible 
chiefly, with light greenish. Frontal crest 1^ in. long, and 
with the loral space coloured vermilion. Inside of mouth flesh- 
colour. Rim round the eye deep brown; iris bright chestnut. 
Legs greyish leek-green, greyer on the tarsal front, and paler 
on the soles; claws brown.” 
$, brought alive, 12th August (caught off nest). “ Length 13 
in.; wing 6J; tail 2\> of ten feathers, somewhat graduated. 
Bony crest and base of culmen fleshy wood-brown, rest of cul- 
men brownish; bill light greenish yellow, flesh-coloured on 
gonys, and yellow at edges. Inside of mouth flesh-coloured; 
tongue fleshy, furrowed down the middle, very gradually nar¬ 
rowing to the tip, which is obtuse, horny, and setaceous. Iris 
deep yellowish hazel; eyelids ochreous brown. Ear small and 
round, operculum quite exposed. Legs and toes light dusky 
yellowish green, with a wash of grey; claws brown.” 
Its nest consists of a pile of rushes and flags, placed at the 
roots of growing rushes in the marsh, and contains usually 
from seven to eleven greenish cream-coloured eggs, blotched and 
spotted with cinnamon-red. Many are, however, almost entirely 
washed with a strong cinnamon-colour, blending the blotches 
together. Length 1*75 in.; breadth 1‘25. 
The dissimilarity of size, as well as of colour, in the sexes of 
this bird has led many of the older naturalists to consider them 
distinct species. It is distributed, according to Blyth, through¬ 
out India and the Malay countries. In South China it is not 
an uncommon summer visitant. 
166. PoRZANA FUSCA, L. 
P. erythrothorax, Schlegel, Faun. Japon. 
Abundant about Taiwanfoo. It lays over seven eggs, on a 
reed-formed nest at the roots of rushes. The eggs vary in 
ground-colour from nearly white to deep cream, and are sparsely 
spotted and freckled with cinnamon-red and light purplish grey. 
Their average dimensions are 1*2 in. by *85; they are in some 
cases attenuated at both ends. 
