1903 A Naturalist's Ramble in South C/ima 153 



as this would be brought in a dirty jar from a very doubtful 

 well. These fruit-stalls and their owners are generally dirty 

 and look forbidding, but fruit with a thick skin to peel is 

 safe enough. The proprietor has a tame mynah (Acridotheres 

 crista tcl I us), which hops about the stall and does not add 

 to its cleanliness. These birds and a grackle (Graculipica 

 nigricollis) are very common here throughout the year. 

 The usual crowd of children and loafers come up to stare 

 at the " quanchai " (I write phonetically) or foreign devils. 

 Some boys, with a long bamboo daubed at the end with a 

 sort of birdlime, are catching the big cicadas which are 

 shrilling overhead in the tree, putting their captures in a 

 bird-cage. These insects are hung up in little cages to 

 sing, the Chinese holding their vocal powers in great estim- 

 ation, and most Europeans would prefer them to native 

 music. 



The chief bird life of the barren hills and plains is mag- 

 pies (the European one), and, during the winter, Richard's 

 pipit, which seems to delight in the most desolate and arid 

 ground. The butterflies which haunt the same localities 

 are chiefly of the genus Precis, three species — P. orithyia, P. 

 almana, and P. atlitcs — being very common. Occasionally a 

 crow (Corvus torquatus) flies slowly over, cawing hoarsely. 

 This bird appears to be the only representative here of the 

 true crows. Amongst the wet padi-fields, and in the scant 

 bits of wood far removed from water, we find two lovely 

 kingfishers common, Halcyon atricapilla and H. smyrnensis. 

 When away from water they are usually pouncing down on 

 grasshoppers and locusts. In the runnels by the padi-fields 

 a man is fishing with a net for the edible frog and small 

 fish of sorts. One of the scaly ant-eaters or pangolins is 

 found amongst the hills here, but is not common, and, being 

 chiefly nocturnal, is seldom seen. 



Arrived at our destination, a fairly thick piece of wood 

 with a village in front (the Chinese say they must have 

 trees round a village, or the ants would destroy all the 

 timber in the houses), we find the mosquitos troublesome, 

 the blue-and-black-barred species. Butterflies are also 

 plentiful, and one flowering tree simply swarms with 

 Euplceas and Danainae and several species of Papilio. Two 



