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COMMON BIRDS

OF THE

YANGTZE DELTA.

LACY I. MOFFETT.

(Kiangyin)

SHANGHAI:
Reprinted from ‘“‘ THe NATIONAL REVIEW.”
1912.

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COMMON BIRDS OF THE
YANGTZE DELTA.

Nearly four hundred species of birds have been found
in the lower Yangtze valley, from Hankow to Shanghai.
A large number of these pass only in migration and are rarely
seen. For the Yangtze Delta section, from Chinkiang to
Shanghai and the coast, the number must be further curtailed
to about three hundred; and of this number only those most
commonly met with are noted here.

These everyday birds can be easily recognized once their
distinctive marks are known, and a speaking acquaintance
with them will help to brighten many days at home or afield.

The crow family is the most obtrusive and one of the
most commonly met with. There are five species to be
seen. Three are solid. black and two black and white.

The largest of the solid black crows is the Indian
jungle crow (Corvus macrorhynchus) or “big-bill” as his
scientific name means. This bird remains the whole year
mostly solitary or in pairs, never in large flocks. He issolid
purplish black with a heavily arched black bill, its base fully
covered with hairy feathers. The nests are built singly,
high upinlargetrees. He is the most fearless of the family
and will freely help himself to any tasty morsel left exposed
around a back porch or window. The common Chinese
name for the whole crow family is lao-o, but this bird is
sometimes distinguished as ou-o, or black crow. .

The largest of the black and white crows is the collared
crow (Corvus torquatus) or parson crow, so named be-
cause of the white upper breast and band around the neck,
very much like the proverbial parson’s collar and tie. The
Chinese call him bah-deu-ching lao-o The parson crow
remains throughout the year and differs in habits from the
big-bill crow chiefly in being more wary and retiring.

The most numerous of all the crows is the Eastern
Rook (Corvus pastinator). The rook is also solid black,
but with a greenish rather than a purplish sheen as in the
big-billed crow. These three crows are approximately the
same size, the rook being if anything slightly smaller than
the other two. The rook is most readily distinguished by
his narrow straight conical bill, the base of which in mature
birds is bare of feathers, and covered with a white scurfy

2 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA.

skin. The Chinese name for the rook is Fong-o or wind
crow, probably referring to his habit of vaulting and soaring
against a high wind—a sport which he seems thoroughly
to enjoy. The rook is decidedly gregarious, remaining in
flocks throughout the whole year. The streets of Shanghai
are noisy with them all summer, and nesting colonies may
be seen in Soochow, Wusih,: Chinkiang and many other
cities in southern Kiangsu. In winter their numbers are
largely augmented by visitors from the north. They feed
in large flocks over the fields by day and gather noisily to
some common roost for the night.

With the rooks in the winter are found the two smaller
members of thecrow family—the jackdaws. One issolid black—
Swinhoe’s jackdaw (Corvus neglectus) or the black jackdaw—
and the other is white and black—the pied jackdaw (Corvus
dauricus). They are both easily distinguished from the other
crows by their smaller size, being little over half as large.
The black jackdaw is a uniform dull black all over. The
pied jackdaw wears not only the white collar and tie of the
parson crow, but also a white vest which comes well down
over his whole under parts; but he does not keep his white
as spotlessly clean as does the parson. The two jackdaws
frequently interbreed, producing hybrids in which the white
is mixed with black or grey in varying amounts. Jackdaws
do not seem to nest in southern Kiangsu; but come in the
autumn with the immigrant rooks, and throughout the winter
mingle freely with them in the fields by day and on the roosts
at night. The Chinese name covers both species of jackdaws
siao-lao-o, (little crows), or mah-o (wheat crows, from their
fondness for scratching up the seed of fallen wheat sown in
the fields.) :

The five members of the crow family may be distinguish-
ed as follows: large purplish black with heavy arched bill
covered with feathers at base, usually solitary, the Big-
billed Crow; large greenish black with straight sharp bill
bare and whitish at base, usually in flocks, the Eastern
Rook; small dull black, usually in flocks mixed with
rooks, the Black Jackdaw; large black with white collar
and breast, solitary, the Parson Crow; small black with
white collar, breast and belly, usually in flocks with black
jackdaws and rooks, the Pied Jackdaw.

The call of the five crows is in each case a characteristic
caw. That of the big-bill deep and resonant, of the
parson hoarse and gruff, of the rook rasping and sharp,
whilst the two jackdaws imitate the rook’s call but on a
higher key.

Next to the crows naturally come the magpies. Two only
are common with us—the common magpie (Pica caudata)

COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 3

and the azure wing magpie, (Cyanopolius cyanus). The
common magpie needs no description; he comes daily and
always makes himself heard. We hear his noisy clacking call
from daylight till dark. Only in the depths of the bamboo
forests around Mohkansan in midsummer have I ever seen
him subdued; there he is overawed and mostly silent. He
is really a very handsome bird, marked with striking
contrasts in black, white, and irridescent purple. The
Chinese call him the hyi tsiah, or wo tsiah. The
big loose bunches of sticks in the trees around us are
his nests. They are roughly oval, with an entrance at
one side near the top. He is smart enough to surround this
hole with thorny twigs as a defence against marauders.
A nest in my yard last year was so completely protected
around the entrance and over the top with prunings from the
blackberry vines in the garden, that I could scarcely see
how the owners entered without getting scratched. I paid
dearly for the privilege of examining the eggs in the nest.

The azure wing or san wo tsiah of the Chinese is
another permanent resident. They must really be more
peaceable than they sound, for in spite of much fussing at
each other, the flock remains together throughout the whole
year in apparent harmony. They wear a black cap and a
white collar, the body above and below is light bluish grey,
and the wings and tail beautiful azure blue, the wings having
a broad tip of white.

The nests are built in colonies, usually well up in the top
of large trees in the forks of the smaller branches. I found
one colony last year whose; nests were promiscuously mixed
with those of the pond heron. The ledies of Trueheart Home
in Soochow have had a colony in their yard for two years past.
Professor Gee called my attention last year to the fact that
they had stripped practically all the outside soft bark from
the trunk ofacedar tree on the Soochow University campus
to weave into their nests.

The lesser titmouse (Parus minor) is another blue
grey bird wearing a black cap, that is very common with
us; but he is very much smaller than the azure wing—not so
jarge as the common sparrow. His wings are black barred
white, and he has a sooty black streak underneath from his
chin to his tail. In young birds this streak is not so well
marked, and the adults in the spring have a distinct golden
sheen on the neck and upper back. The lesser tit is a very
familiar little fellow, flitting busily through the trees examin-
ing every leaf and twig for the insects on which he feeds. A
season’s record of what he finds would make an interesting
list of harmful insects destroyed. His nest is carefully
hidden away in a hollow tree or convenient hole in a wall,

4 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANOTZE DELTA.

and is rather difficult to find. The Chinese name for him
is te tsong. . ;

The silver-throated tit or long-tailed tit (Aegithalus
glaucogularis) is even smaller—in fact the smallest of our
common birds. He is a frowsy looking little chap with loose
fluffy greyish plumage, anda silvery grey patch under his
throat from which he is named. He has no black underneath,
but his wings and very long tail are dull black marked with
white. Small flocks are seen oftenest in winter—frequently.
with the lesser tit searching the trees for food, all the
while uttering at intervals their peculiar little grating call.
The nest is one of the most beautiful I have seen—an oval ball
of mosses and lichens bound together with cobwebs and
lined with the softest feathers, the entrance near the top.
Usually it is suspended from the outer branches of a cedar
or spruce tree.

Another rather close kinsman of the true tits is the
brown crow tit or Webb’s crow tit (Suthora webbiana),
perhaps most familiar to us by his Chinese name wong
deu. This bird occasionally comes around the shrubs in
our yards in the spring, but is most readily found in the dry
reed beds overthe country. The head, neck, and upper back
are reddish brown, the rest of the body greyish brown. The
Chinese are fond of caging this bird, and although he is so
small they find great amusement in fighting the males in
cages constructed for the purpose. Their short thick heavy
bill makes a very effective weapon, and it is not uncommon
for one to crush the leg bones of his opponent by a single grip.

We naturally associate with the crow tit another little
bird which the Chinese are found of caging—the silver eye,
or as the Chinese call it, siew ngan (Zosterops simplex),
though his affinities lie rather with the thrushes than with the
tits. His general colour is olive tinged yellow above, shading
to grey below. He hasa distinctive white circle around each
eye, from which he takes his name both in English anP
Chinese. His forehead and throat are tinged golden yellow.
The silver eye is considered the most genteel of all the cage
birds, and is a fit pet for the most elegant gentleman. The
crow tit on the other hand is the pet of the “sports”—another
case where the favourite Chinese distinction between the
ven and the vu would apply.

_ Two big brown thrushes will claim our attention. The
Chinese wo-mi or brown laughing thrush (Trocalopteron
canorum) is seen in cages everywhere. In the wild it is
quite common on the hills, and sometimes comes down to
the plains. This bird is a warm cinnamon brown colour
with a distinct white eyebrow to which its Chinese name
refers. The wo-mi has the most varied song of Any of the

COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 5

common birds, not only having quite a classic repertoire of
his own but seeming able to add at will the notes of other
birds he hears. The Chinese prize him next to the Mongolian
Lark, or pah ling, asa singer, and personally I am inclined to
give him first place.

The spectacled laughing thrush (Dryonastes perspicil-
datus), or ya-wo- mi, is a caricature of his more aristocratic
cousin. He is dull brownish grey all over, approaching
black in the wings and tail, and around each eye, and across
the forehead he has a broad dark patch from which he has
been rather fancifully named spectacled laughing thrush.
To say that he laughs requires an equally strong imag-
ination, though his harsh strident notes may have some
resemblance to a coarse guffaw. He is common in thickets
through the country, usually several birds together keeping
up an incessant noise, though once he scents danger he is
remarkably silent, and can slip through dense undergrowth
with a speed and stealth that elude all but the closest search.

Close kin to the thrushes is the Chinese bulbul or bah
deukoong (Pycnonotus sinensis) perhaps the most typical
brrd of our whole section. His song is varied and sweet, but
could scarcely justify his name of bulbul, which is the Persian
word for nightingale. His characteristic call was well
described by a lady, formerly of Soochow, as “Let people
hear.” The top of the head and a spot behind the eyes are
white, the rest of the head black, the body is grey with
‘darker wings and tail, and the whole is suffused with a golden
yellow tinge. Toward the end of the summer, as the plumage
wears, this golden tint becomes less distinct.

The Chinese very commonly cage this bird, valuing
only the males, as the females have little music in them.
The sexes are marked exactly alike but they claim to be able
to distinguish them by the fact that in the male the nostrils
are pierced through from side to side, but not in the female.
This difference J have never been able to detect in the
specimens I have seen, and doubt it very much.

These bulbuls are permanent residents, associating in
loose flocks in the winter, and scattering in pairs to nest in
. any suitable shrub or thicket. They are quite fond of the
mulberry orchards, and hundreds of the nests are broken up
yearly when the first lot of leaves is taken to feed the silk-
worms.

The black naped oriole (Oriolus diffusus) is very notice-
able during the summer both for his soft liquid whistle and
for the brilliancy of his colouring. The whole body is a
beautiful golden yellow with the exception of a black streak
from the base of the bill around the back of the neck, and the
black quills in the wing and tail. As this is the only large

6 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA.

golden yellow bird we have it is easily identified. The
orioles are quite shy and wary of observation; they nest high
up in the tops of large trees, and as a rule do not stir about
much except in the early morning.

Two of the starling family are common with us—the
crested myna or pah.ko (Acridotheres cristatellus) and
the grey starling (Shodiopsar cinereus)

The myna seems especially fond of city life. He may
be found all through the year in small flocks sunning him-
self on the city walls. He is a trim neat bird, solid black
except for a white patch on his wings, which shows plainest
in flight, and white tips to the tail quills and under coverts.
His black crest is set so far forward over his nostrils as.
to give him a rather curious expression. He is quick and
graceful in his movements, and walks like a soldier on
parade. But for the uncleanliness of his feeding habits he
could be called an elegant bird. The Chinese keep them in
cages, and claim they can be taught to speak very distinctly,
provided their tongues are carefully rolled every day be-
tween the fingers to keep them supple. Their notes are
quite varied, many of them being really very near the human
tones. They nest in holes, trees, walls, or convenient
corners of ruined buildings. An old decaying pagoda in
Kiangyin is quice a rendezvous for them, and a colony nests
there every year in company with several pairs of black-
eared kites. '

The grey starling or kdn lih ts of the Chinese is
similar to the myna in bearing and habits, though he is
somewhat smaller, and more gregarious when we see himin
the winter. They fly rapidly over the country in large flocks
some of which must reach into the thousands of individuals.
These flocks move with military precision, wheeling and
turning in the air for the pure fun of it. Their general colour
is brownish grey much streaked with black and white, the
black usually predominating about the head, though the
amount of it differs very much in the individuals. The
white shows most on the wings and rump and in a spot
behind the eye. They are best described by saying that they
ee very ue He the rice birds or bobolink.

_ From the starlings we will make a long leap to the
flycatchers. Of the ten more or less es oh in this
part of China I have chosen only one. The flycatchers as
a family are soberly coloured and silent, so that they easily
pass unseen. The Paradise flycatcher, dzeu ta or tse tsing
(Terpsiphone incei) is a striking exception. The female is
a rich red brown above, darkening on the wing quills.
Her head is blue-black and her under parts blue-grey.
The male has two colour phases. One is very similar to.

COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. vi

the female except that the tail is much longer. In the
second phase the red brown of the body gives way to a
snowy white plumage and the head becomes a rich cobalt
blue. The central tail feathers are longer than the bird’s
entire body—two beautiful white plumes slightly curving
downward. In the air he is remarkably light and graceful—
altogether the most beautiful bird we have. The explanation
of the two phases of colour is a much disputed point. One
authority confidently states that “all males are brown until
after the third year, when they turn white”; whilst another
is just as “certain that there are both white and chestnut
males equally mature.’ The Paradise flycatcher is not
common; but usually one or two may be seen in a summer,
and if a white male is present his striking plumage will
certainly attract attention.

There are seven robins, or ouzels, as our British friends
call them, listed for the lower Yangtze valley, but only one
of these remains through the summer; three others spend the
winter, and three are only passers by. Our resident robin
is the Chinese blackbird, or, as the Chinese themselves call
him, wu-tsen (Merula mandarina). He is another favourite
cage bird, and ranks close to the wo-mi as a singer, though
his notes are less varied. He is solid dusky black all over
with yellowish bill and feet. In the spring, after mating,
these birds seem rather shy and prefer the large trees for
nesting places ; but in the winter they become quite friendly
and readily come to our lawns to feed on the ground, very
much like the American robin, roosting singly or gathering
in groups for the night in any convenient shrubbery.

Of the three. winter robins the most common is the
red-tailed. or Nauman’s robin (Merula naumani). The head,
neck, and upper back, are light brown, the wings, lower bacls,
and especially the tail, are reddish brown, as are also the
breast and sides. The amount of red seems to vary very
much, but the rusty red tail is always a distinctive mark.
The red-tailed robins tend to form into small flocks, and
are especially partial to the mulberry groves, where they
feed on the ground. They resemble the American robin
more than any of the others, though they are qtite different
from the English robin red-breast, which in America would
not be called a robin at all, but a bluebird.

The second. of the winter robins is the pale robin
(Merula pallida). His head is mouse grey, with a circle of
yellow skin around the eyelids. The body is olive grey above
and almost white below, more or less deeply clouded grey
on the breast. He is usually a solitary bird, resembling the
blackbird very much in his habits. He frequently comes to
the lawn to feed, seeming to care very little about the

8 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA.

weather. I counted four at one time on Mr. Du Bose’s
lawn, looking for insects in a drizzling rain, one day last
spring. The other four robins are so rarely seen that we
need not take them up.

Even our common sparrow here is not the house
sparrow, or English sparrow, as we call him at home, but
another quite different. Heis the mountain or tree sparrow

(Passer montanus), the mo tsiah of the Chinese. He is
neither so noisy nor so quarrelsome as his English cousin,
and his colouration is remarkable, for a sparrow, in that both
sexes are just alike. In general his habits here are about
the same, though in India he is quite different, being confined
almost entirely to the mountains whilst the English sparrow
takes the plains. In Eastern China the tree sparrow has
sole possession except for the few ruddy sparrows found on
the tops of the mountains. . ;

The buntings are a large family of little birds closely
allied-to the sparrows, and differing from them chiefly in
having the lower mandible (i.e. under part of bill) larger
than the upper—a sort of “jimber-jawed” effect. Offourteen
species listed for the lower Yangtze the two most often seen
are the greyheaded bunting (Emberiza Spodocephala) and
the yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola).

The grey-headed bunting spends the winter with us
and makes himself very much at home; he will come right
to the doorstep, and readily accepts any crumbs or seeds
that are tossed tohim. His head, neck, and upper breast are
a dark greenish grey, the upper parts of the body are rusty-
brown, yellow, and black—just “sparrow colour” as some one
has called it. Underneath he is sulphur yellow, and his
outer tail quills are white. Inspring just before leaving, he
well repays all hospitality shown him, by a delightfully sweet
and varied song, with which he seems fairly to bubble over
from morning till night.

The yellow breasted buntings, or wong tsiah, spend
only about a month with usin passing in autumn and spring,
but they come in such large numbers that we cannot fail to see
them. [Every year thousands are netted and sold for a few
cash, as pets, and for several weeks each autumn half of the
little boys on the street have them caged or tethered to a
string. Very few survive in captivity, and when they do
make but poor pets, as they have little song and not much
beauty. The whole upper plumage is much like the grey-
headed bunting’s, except that the distinctive grey head is
lacking. The whole under parts are golden rather than
sulphur yellow, and the eyebrows are the same colour.
The males have in addition two white bars on the wings,
and in colours are generally brighter than the female. In

COMMON: BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 9

summer the males also wear a dark brown collar, and the
forehead, face, and chin become black. Frequently the birds
come to us in the autumn before losing this summer plumage.
In this plumage the Chinese call them loo tsiah; most of
them, however, have already begun to moult when they arrive,
and we see them in all stages of ragged plumage, some
without tails, others with scarcely wings enough to fly.

A winter visitor that most certainly attracts our atten-
tion is the black tailed or black headed hawfinch (Eophona
melanura) the lah tseu, i.e. wax-bill, of the Chinese.
This same name also applies tothe Javasparrow. The whole
wvody is fawn colour, the wings and tail black with white
tips and two white bars on the wing. The males have black
heads, the females fawn coloured. The most striking feature
is the grotesquely large waxy-looking yellow bill, short but
high and broad, out of all proportion to the size of the bird.

These hawfinches come to us the last of October and stay
until late in April. By the middle of March they begin to
sing, and up tothe time of their leaving their sweet whistling
notes can be heard all throughout the day.

Two swallows are quite common wit us, both of them
going by the same name with the Chinese, ien-ts. The most
abundant is the Eastern house swallow (Hirundo guttur-
alis). They build in great numbers in Chinese houses in
city and country alike. Their presence is considered a good
omen, and very frequently pegs are driven into the roof
timbers to offer them better support for their mud nests.
So far as I know they are the only birdnests that a Chinese
boy has any respect for. The distinguishing marks of this
swallow are a rich irridescent chestnut brown throat and.
neck, and a row of white spots at the base of the deeply
forked tail. Otherwise he is rich irridescent purplish black
above and white below.

The other swallow is the golden-backed or Hodgson’s
striped swallow (Hirundo nipalensis). Its distinguishing
marks are a fine dusky streaking on the under parts anda
rich reddish golden rump and lower back. It has the same
deeply-forkéd tail as the house swallow, but lacks the white
spots, and has no chestnut on the throat. In habitat the
golden-backed swallow is much more rural than the house
swallow, and prefers to build in country houses near the
hills. The young of both birds in the autumn lack the long
tails and the distinctive marks of the adults.

The wagtails are another family of feathered friends
some of whom will come right to our doors in the winter.
They usually pick a wet rainy day to come, when the water
is standing all over the lawn and the little wet-weather
worms they love to feed on are available. There are two

10 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA.

wagtails very much alike in colouring but the one usually
seen is the streakeyed wagtail, (Motacilla ocularis) tseu
ping tiao or “walk ice bird.” Heis a neat grey and white
bird with a black crown, bib, and central tail feathers, and a
dark line through the eye, from which he is named. The
-amount of black in all the wagtails varies very much with the
season, largely increasing in the summer, but this particular
bird always keeps his grey shoulders, whilst the others he
closely resembles do not. Another branch of the family not
often seen are yellow underneath instead of white.

The wagtails have a family trait of nervousness which
‘makes them bob their tails constantly when or the ground,
usually accompanying each “bob” with their characteristic
call note, a short “tseek.” When flushed they go bounding
off through the air with a graceful undulating flight calling
“tseeker’”, “tseeker”, at each bound.

During the winter months, almost any time we go into
the open fields, little mottled greyish brown birds will spring
up from the ground in front of us and bound off, announcing
their names as they go, “pipit-pipit-pipit.”. There are two of
them, rather diffictllt to distinguish at first sight, except that
one is largely solitary, and the other usually is found in small
flocks. The flocks are the Japanese pipit or the Eastern
water pipit (Anthus Japonicus); they are generally much
darker in colouring, and the breast is thickly spotted with
black. The single birds are the grey pipits or Blakiston’s
water pipit (Authus blakistoni); they are generally much
lighter in colour and their breasts rather faintly spotted.
They are also slightly larger. Care must be taken not to
confuse the grey pipits with the skylarks, which flock to
the fields in the winter; but if we will only notice the pipit
he will almost always announce himself as he rises.

To know the skylark (Alauda arvensis) you must
go to see him in his summer home. Do not accept the
song of the poor caged individuals which the Chinese keep;
they are a travesty of the real bird. He is nothing much
to look at-—just a mixture of greys and browns and buffy
white, that blends perfectly with parched grass once he
drops to the ground. But how he can sing when he gets
up into the free air! I will not attempt to describe it, even
Shelley failed to do him justice. On any dry grassy slope,
especially at the foot of the hills, any day, rain or shine,
from March to June you will find him singing. Springing
from the ground with a burst of song, he flutters straight up
and up into the clouds until barely visible, all the while
pouring out a wonderful volume of the-sweetest of music.
After five, ten, or even fifteen minutes of uninterrupted
song, down he will come still singing, usually taking the

COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 11

last fifty feet at a single dive and in silence. Sometimes
before touching the ground he will go up again and start
all over again as if too full of music to hold itin. The
,Chinese have rightly named him kao rien ts,. “ messenger
“of heaven.”

For pure beauty of colouring none of our birds can
surpass the little blue kingfisher (Alcedo bengalensis).
His whole upper parts are a beautiful blending of azure and
deep blue. He has a white spot on the side of the head and
is white underneath, more or less tinted buff. The Chinese
make some very beautiful jewellery by. mounting the azure
feathers of the back in various settings. His Chinese book
name is tse tsiah, but his common name is_ ng-ho-ts,
or fish tiger. It sounds rather fierce for so small a bird’s
but if we watch him fishing, and see with what deadly
certainty he brings out a fish every time he strikes it, it does
not seem to be so very far wrong. , There is another blue
kingfisher,. much larger and more beautifully coloured,
occasionally seen here but he is more abundant further
south.

The woodpecker ‘we most hequanity meet with is the
Yangtze green woodpecker (Gecinus guerini). The Chinese
name for him is tsok moh tiao or wood-striker. His head
is dark grey with a black line in the centre, another on each
cheek, and a crimson red patch on the forehead. The body
issoft grey, darker on wings, and tail, andthe whole washed
with a greenish golden yellow from which he is named.
The wing quills are regularly spotted. dirty white. He
resembles somewhat the American flicker.. His call is
loud and shrill, and like the flicker he often seeks his food
on the ground as well as in the trees.

The cuckoos are much oftener heard than seen. Two
come to us every summer. The Indian cuckoo (Cuculus
micropterus) is the most common, and_ is readily known by
his four-syllable call,. which the Chinese.interpret as kwa-
kwatsah mah, “quick-quick, reap wheat”, or kwa-kwa tsoong
hwoo, “quick-quick plant cotton.”

The European cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) calls ku-koo in
plain English, and the Chinese so name him. The females
of both birds, and I think sometimes the males also, utter a
short kuk-kuk.

The two cuckoos are very difficult to distinguish by their
colouration, both are brownish ashy-grey. variously barred
and banded with brown. The Indian cuckoo is rather more
neavily marked, has a larger bill, and a darker. eye, but the
only safe way to distinguish them in the trees is to wait for
a call, which will certainly show which bird you have. The
Indian cuckoo comes first in the spring, about the last of

12 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA.

April, and the European cuckoo soon follows. Both birds
stop calling after July; and some, at least, remain until Sep-
tember. Both birds are parasites, making no nests of their
own, but depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds,
leaving ttie young to be raised by their foster-parent.

The big hawk-like bird that soars over us every day is
the black-eared kite (Milvus melanotis) or the lao ying of
the Chinese. He is generally dusky-brown marked with
yellowish-grey, the relative amounts varying considerably.
On the under side of each wing is a large light-coloured
patch, which shows plainly when he is flying; this to-
gether with his forked tail serves to distinguish him from
any other similarly coloured birds of prey which may pass
over us. In spring the light and dark in the plumage
show more contrast, and at that time the dark patches
which give him his name may be readily seen. This kite is
the scavenger amongst our Chinese birds, feeding almost
entirely on offal. He is a strong flier, and though rather
sluggish in his movements, will deftly snatch any floating
bit of food from the water without wetting a feather. He
usually alights to take food from the ground. Magpies and
crows chase him at will in the air, but once he alights to
feed they are careful to keep ata respectful distance. I
once saw a kite feeding on some refuse along the edge of the
Yangtze with a dozen crows stalking all around him, but not
venturing in reach untii he had feasted and sailed off. Then
they pitched in and noisily cleaned up the scraps. The kite
remains with us all the year, nesting in ruined pagodas and
large trees. He shows a special preferencé for the large
maiden-hair or gingko trees around the temples.

There are two doves commonly seen, the Chinese. turtle
dove or the bu ku (Turtur sinensis) and the blue turtle
dove or the pan chiu (Turtur rupicola). Both are slate-grey
above with a lighter mottling, and a delicate vinaceous-
pink below, both have brownish-black wings and tail tipped
white below. The grey of the Chinese dove is rather brownish
and that of the blue dove more bluish, but there is very
little difference. The distinguishing mark is in the black collar
or patch at the side of the neck. In the Chinese dove
the black feathers are each marked at the tip with a small
white circle having a black centre. In the blue dove these
feathers are simply tipped with light grey. Itis the Chinese
dove which lives and nests in our yards.. The blue dove
prefers the pines on the hills, though sometimes in the winter
it too becomes more sociable. In some sections the ruddy
ring dove (Turtur humilis) is fairly common. It will be
readily recognized by its smaller size and the rich rufous
colouring of the whole upper parts.

COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 13

_ There is little use to describe the king of our local game
birds, the Mongolian or ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus
torquatus). We all know him dressed either in his gaily col-
oured plumage parading the fields with his sober brown wife,
or dressed with brown gravy and served up on a platter, and
he is well worth our attention in either place. The Chinese
call him ya chi, or wild chicken, and for some reason the
name has come to bea synonym for anything that is illegal or
unlicensed. There are are nine species of pheasants found
in China, some of them far more handsome than ours, but
they are mostly in the hills. This is the only one which
comes down to our plains.

Fairly common in the pools around us are two chicken-
like birds which strangely enough have taken to ‘the
water as their home. The moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
and the watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) so called regard-
less of their sex. The Chinese do not distinguish between
them, calling both kah loong tiao in imitation. of the
call especially of the watercock. The watercock is almost
as large as a pheasant minus its tail, and the moorhen is
slightly smaller. Both sexes of the moorhen and the male
watercock are dull black as seen from a distance, and the
female watercock is mottled yellowish-brown rather dusky
above and lighter below. The most ready means of distin-
guishing the two species is the peculiar fleshy growth on their
forehead just above the bill. In the moorhen it is a flat
hard shield, flesh-pink to blood-red in colour. In the water-
cock it becomes an elevated knob about the size of the
end of one’s little finger and half an inch high, varying in col-
our from almost white to blood-red. Both birds have ridic-
ulously large feet and long toes; these enable them to run
rapidly over floating vegetation or reeds; they can also swim
and dive fairly well in spite of having no webs on their feet.

Of the many small wading birds the most common with
us is the green sandpiper (Totanus ochropus). Ihave never
been able to get any Chinese name for him. He is olive-
green above with black wings, white below, and has a large
white patch on his lower back at the root of the tail, which
shows plainest when flying. This bird may be seen almost
any time except mid-summer feeding along the edges of the
canals. When frightened he will dart off screaming with a
characteristic sandpiper call, a few rapid strokes alternating
with a short soar. ;

Close kin to the sandpipers are the snipe. Several species
pass in migration, and are highly valued as table delicacies,
but the only one commonly seen is the fantail or winter snipe
(Gallinago coelestis). He is mottled black-grey and yellowish-
brown all over, the grey predominating below, the belly

14 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA:

white. The shape of his head and bill identifies him as a snipe,
after which he is most readily named by counting his tail
feathers, which should be fourteen, all about the same size.
The woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) seems to be the only
one of the waders which the Chinese have dignified with a
common name, but even it is confused with the bamboo
chicken found farther south and called tsoh-chi. The
snipe are usually called simply siao-chi or little bamboo
chicken. The woodcock is a curious bird both in habits and
appearance. He feeds in wet marshy places at night, prob-
ing in the mud with his long bill for worms. The daytime
he spends going wherever hisfancy leadshim. At Kiangyin
his favourite place seems the sunny sides of the hills amongst
the scrub pines, though you may stumble on him in mulberry
orchards or most anywhere. He is coloured very much like
the snipe except that reddish-brown prevails above, forming
bars on the wings, and the back shows numerous black spots;
below he is yellowish-brown barred black. The eyes are set
so high and so far'back in the head that they give the bird
an almost simple look, which is augmented by the slouchy
way in which he squats on the ground. When flushed he
darts off with a loud “peewit” on a course characteristically
erratic and puzzling to the hunter that seeks to bag him.
Two herons are commonest with us amongst a dozen
varieties seen more or less frequently. The Chinese pond-
heron or bah-p’iao (Ardeola bacchus) is the most common of
all. Throughout the summer he is everywhere where he can
find frogs to feed on, in the fields, marshes, or along the car-
als. Flying he looks almost pure white and is easily seen, but
when he alights he disappears almost as if by magic. His
wings, lower back and under parts are pure cream-white, and
this is what we see when he flies. The head, neck and upper
back are a bronzed-purple, the throat and breast are yellowish-
brown. When he sits with wings folded these are the parts
exposed and the colours blend so readily with any back-
ground that it is very difficult to see him unless he moves,
and he isa master at the art of “freezing”, or keeping
perfectly still. In the breeding season the adult birds wear
a beautiful bronze aigrette of long hairy feathers covering
the whole back. The head and neck become bronzed-rufous,
shading to purple on the breast. The young birds are rather
more brown on the back, and the head and neck are streaked
with dark brown and yellow. The other heron most fre-
quently seen is the black-crowned night heron or chin tsong.
It was a colony of this bird which nested last year in the trees
in the Confucian Temple just north of here. He is larger
and more heavily built than the pond heron, and his bill is
much stouter and distinctly arched. The top of the head is

COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 15

crowned black, the forehead, sides of head and whole under-
parts are cream-white, as are the long white crown plumes.
Theupper parts areof very dark irridescent blue andthe wings
bluish-grey; except when feeding its young this bird is not
often seen by day, but towards dusk or through the night its
harsh squawking call seems to come from almost anywhere
inthe sky. Some of these herons stay with us through
the winter, but nearly all leave when the cold weather
arrives.

Three wild ducks come to our notice both out in the
open and on the market. The big handsome mallard (Anas
boschas) with a glossy green head, the sober yellow nib
(Anas zonorhyncha) and the gaudy little green-winged teal
(Anas crecca). The Chinese call them all ya ah, or wild
ducks, distinguishing them only by their size as big or little.
The drake mallard is sufficiently marked by his green head.
The hen mallard and the yellow nib are both greyish-brown
mottled yellowish, but the mallard has a yellow bill witha
black tip and the yellow nib a black bill with a yellow tip from
which he is named. Both the mallard and yellow nib types
are quite common amongst the flocks of domesticated ducks
raised by the Chinese. The green-wing teal is the little
duck so common both onthe market and in the country
during the winter. The drake has the sides of the head and
a spot in the wing rich glossy green; the rest of the head is
reddish-chestnut, the body is beautifully marked black, white
and brown. The female has the same green wing spot which
names the species, but lacks the bright colours on the head
and isauniform greyish-brown mottled cinnamon above and
yellow-white spotted black below. This little duck has the
most delicately flavoured flesh of any of our wild ducks, and
is rightly much prized for the table.

The last of the list is the curious little grebe or didapper
(Podiceps ininor) everywhere present in the marshes.
He is dark brownish-grey above and a clear silvery-white
beneath. In winter the head is brownish-black, but in summer
both sexes put ona dark red hood which covers the whole head
and neck. The grebe lives in the water and gets his food
from it, rarely flying unless forced to do so. He is expert
at diving and swimming. His Chinese name, s-wu-lu, or
water ghost, is given him because of his habit of disappearing
almost instantly under the water and coming up far to one
side, frequently where he cannot be seen. The feet are set so
far back that they are of very little use to him on land, in fact
he can scarcely walk at all; but for the water they are
admirably placed, and serve him so well both as propellers
and rudder that he does without a tail, which is the steering
apparatus for most birds.

16 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA.

This completes the list of the most common birds
noted at Soochow, Chinkiang and Kiangyin. Carefully
mounted and named specimens of each bird noted can be
seen inthe Museum of the Royal Asiatic Society in Shanghai,
and a few hours of thoughtful study there will be a more
effective aid to identification than months of reading. For
those who wish to carry the study further, several technical
lists are available, though the only book which gives a full
treatment of Chinese birds as such, is an old French work,
now out of print and quite difficult to obtain. Chinese bird-
lovers are still waiting for some competent ornithologist to
give us a popular key to the birds of China, similar to those
which have done so much to encourage the study of birds in
the home land. ;

ee LL A CEAS I

Binder
Gaylord Bros.
Makers
Syracuse, N. Y.
PAT. JAN 21, 1908