AUTUiMN MIGRANTS. 147 



there if the landscape is rich in wax-bearing trees, for these 

 Tallow trees, asthey aresometimescalled fSfillingia sehifera), 

 are unsurpassable anywhere. An orchard of tallow trees at 

 the right moment is a sight for the gods. All the red end 

 of the solar spectrum is there in flashes of living fire. The 

 scale is run from the green of the still sheltered and unaffected 

 leaves through greenish yellow to canary and orange, then 

 orange with touches of light pinU, light pink on to darker pink, 

 and so through endless nuances to the most brilliant scarlet, 

 finishing up with the deepest crimson. Adequately to 

 reproduce the efi^ect of such a sight is impossible even with 

 a palette : words fail ignominiously. We must await a 

 perfected system of colour photography before we can hope 

 to see an adequate representation of such autumnal glory. 



If the occasion be well selected there may be other 

 beauties besides those of leaves, for there is nothing of which 

 birds of many kinds are more greedy than the fat tri-partite 

 berries of the Sfillin^ia which take fire from a lighted match. 

 As these ripen gradually from the beginning of October to 

 the middle of November the trees need watching or nothing 

 in the shape of fruit would be left. I have seen half a dozen 

 blackbirds at a time gorging themselves with the greatest gusto, 

 bulbuls just as eager, tits with an adv^antage over the heavier 

 birds since they can cling easily to the slender twigs on 

 which the berries grow, sparrows, finches, the blue magpie 

 (Urocissa cenilea ), and even our common friend the black 

 and white. Underneath, making a very good meal off the 

 berries shaken down, is the common dove (Tiirfur Sinensis). 

 All this to the naturalist is more pleasing than it is to the 

 farmer, with whom one can fully sympathize, for there really 

 is no limit to the rapacity of birds. 



Mention of the tits reminds one of the not uncommon 

 appearance of a tiny little bird which passes us twice a year, 

 the gold-crest, or golden-crested wren, a lovely little creature 

 with all the agility of the tits and even more beauty. 

 Reiiuliis oristatiis, or R. Japoniciis, as our local variety is 

 called, may frequently be met with in wooded parts. He 

 cares little for the presence of man, and will go on with his 

 leaf to leaf search for insects though a pair of human eyes 

 peers at him from a distance of a yard or two only. His olive 

 green is charmingly set off by the little golden crest w4iich 

 gives him his name. Still more jaunty, if that be possible, 

 but less common, is the "Fire-crest," R. ignicapilliis, a. close 

 relative of the gold-crest and about the same srze. His 

 principal difference is a bright ruddy-orange crest in place 

 of the gold. Another crested bird well known in China, is the 

 Bohemian waxwing, also a migrant in most parts. Ampelis 

 garniliis is usually to be met with in flocks of varying size. 



