THE IBIS. 
NEW SERIES. 
No. VI. APRIL 1866. 
XL— A Voice on Ornithology from Formosa. 
By Robert Swinhoe, Her Majesty’s Consul, F.Z.S., &c. 
(Plate V.) 
I have been very unfortunate with regard to my scientific 
books. The two closing numbers of f The Ibis’ for 1864 
went down with the mail-steamer in a typhoon ; and some 
other works have since been carried off by pirates on the 
capture of a schooner bound from Amoy to this port with the 
mails. Thanks, however, to the deity that presides over science, 
the two first numbers of the New Series are at hand. Mr. 
Blyth, I am pleased to see, is still hard at work. I have read 
his “ Identifications and Rectifications of Synonymy” (Ibis, 
1865, pp. 27-50), and can corroborate most of what concerns 
my sphere of experience. I should like, however, to say a few 
words. 
Eurystomus orientalis , L. (p. 30), I take to be the summer 
visitant of South China, and not E . australis , Sw. My spe¬ 
cimens are with Mr. Tristram, and this question can very easily 
be settled by any one who cares to take the trouble. Merops 
philippinus I have also received from Swatow, in the Province of 
Canton (see Ibis, 1865, p. 230). Lanius hardwickii , Vig., and 
Nectarinia flammaxillaris, Blyth, may occur in China, but I 
have never had the good fortune to meet with them. “ China,” 
however, is a broad term, comprising no small part of Asia. 
N.S.-VOL. II. 
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