THE IBIS. No. XX. OCTOBER 1863. XXXII. — The Ornithology of Formosa, or Taiwan. By Robert Swinhoe, Esq., F.Z.S., &c. [Concluded from p. 311.] 82. Alauda ccelivox, Swinhoe. Throughout the plains, the downs, the grassy plateaux, wherever the locality is suitable in Formosa, this little Lark is found, delighting the ear of the savage, the colonist, and the adventurer alike with its sweet song as it disappears into the sky. But it often also sings on the ground, or mounted on some stone or prominence. In the Pescadore Islands, between Formosa and the main, it is also very common, and almost the only bird there. It is abundant in the south of China, from Canton to Foochow. In Shanghai it is replaced by a similar form, but intermediate in size and proportions between it and the so-called A. arvensis of Peking and its neighbourhood. In my large series of skins from Formosa there is considerable variation in the length and thickness of the bill, some, in the bulkiness of that organ, drawing close to the Mirafne of Africa and India. For a more detailed account of this bii-d I must refer my readers to the ' Zoologist.' 83. Emberiza spodocephala. Pall. E. melanops, Blyth. Euspiza personata of my Amoy List, Ibis, 1860, p. 6.2. These Buntings visit Formosa in winter in large numbers. They are identical with those procured at Amoy, and are refcr-VOL. V. 2 1)
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