CO129-554-6 Hong Kong University- 1. Appointment of Dr. Chen Shas Yi as head of Chinese Department... 18-3-1935 - 28-10-1935 — Page 78

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NOTES AND COMMENTS.

ORNITHOLOGY

One new record for this journal.

INCE'S PARADISE FLYCATCHER (Tchitrea incei D. & O.).

Nest with four young birds found on May 26, built in a very large tree near Chung Kok, about the 81⁄2 milestone on the Castle Peak Road. The parent birds were very wild remaining among the topmost branches while the nest was being examined. As we did not know what they were then two of the young birds were taken.

The

The neck

The young is entirely different from the adult being almost all brown with the exception of the breast which is more or less of a dirty white, the young male having a dark streak extending along the breast-bone. tail is scarcely perceptible although the bird was fully fledged. was also bare of feathers making it resemble a vulture when the neck was extended during feeding. They were fed with various insects and scraps While yet unable to pick up food from the cup

of raw meat and thrived.

the birds were adepts at catching flies on the wing.

At about 5 weeks old and without any previous indications the brown head feathers were discarded and next morning I was surprised to see the whole crown covered with a dark bluish-black coat. The head feathers grew longer day by day and developed into an occipital crest in the male.

There is also a slight semblance of a beard when the bird is alarmed or angered. After this they commenced to discard the whitish feathers of the breast and within a fortnight had there an ashy-grey coat, the grey in the case of the male being prominently darker. During this interval the tail had grown as long as the body. The male bird tries very hard to sing and produces queer, confused, hollow sounds.

When the locality was next visited the two remaining birds had flown. I collected the nest which is cup-shaped and composed of rootlets, grasses and twigs. The outside was carefully wrapped with strips of bark, not unlike rough hemp, and pasted with mosses and bits of decayed leaves.

R. A. P.

A DAY WITH BIRDS AMONG THE ISLANDS.

The larger islands off the mainland of the southern China coast offer an interesting study of birds throughout the winter. As spring lengthens the plumage of certain of the plovers changes and the birds manifest a certain

The Hong Kong Naturalist.