301 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Formosan Ornithology. 
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tftt 
took the hint, and gave them thereafter a free supply of raw 
meat. Three survived and did well, each in a separate cage. 
They fed voraciously on flesh, even on the bodies of their com¬ 
rades. All kinds of insect-life seemed acceptable to them, espe¬ 
cially cockroaches. I had therefore great hopes of getting one 
home to England alive. I sent my finest sample to Hong Kong ; 
but before a chance for shipment occurred he died of ophthalmia 
and vertigo. Their irides were a light pearly king^s-yellow, and 
their pupils were unusually large. They kept up a continued 
chattering during the day, which sounded like the twittering of 
several Finches together. After a while they became tame; and 
one in particular used to ruffle his feathers and sing in a sub¬ 
dued tone (as if to himself) for a greater part of the day. If the 
finger were held to him, he would stand high on his legs, divide 
the feathers of his breast, half open his wings, throw back his 
head, and, uttering a warning aspiration, stand ready to attack 
the intrusion.” 
This species does not appear so common in the southern 
mountains. I will get my hunters here to try for live birds. It 
would be a handsome set-off to the two species of this noble group 
already in the Gardens. 
“ Oreocincla hancii , Swinhoe (Ibis, 1863, p. 275), 15 March, 
1864. The wing of this specimen measures 6*5 inches, tail 4 # 25 
inches. It is rather smaller than the one I procured before,*nd 
may be a female, as that was a male. It seems much more 
copiously lunulated on the breast with black.” 
“ Spilornis hoya, sp. nov. 
“ A pair bought at Tamsuy, 29 March, 1864. Differs from 
S. cheela by its smaller size, by its crest being composed of 
shorter and smaller feathers, by its shorter and more wedged 
tail with the central transverse band not half the width it is in 
that species, and by its wing- and tail-coverts being profusely 
spotted with white. It would appear to be intermediate to S. 
cheela and S. bido, — S. holospilus of the Philippines, with which 
it ought to have the closest affinities, being one-third smaller 
than S. bido. 
“ a . Length 27 inches ; wing 18*5, first quill 4*3, second 1*5, 
third *2 shorter than the fourth, which is the longest in the 
