Mr. R. Svvinlioe on the Ornithology of Foochow. 253 



XXYIl.— Ornithological Ramble in Foochow, in December IS61 . 

 By Robert Swinhoe, Corr. Mem. Zool. Soc. Lond. 



Those who are bound for Foochow, as was my case in Decem- 

 ber last, leave the steamer near the mouth of the Min river, 

 where a boat waits for the mail and passengers. The sail is soon 

 hoisted, and, with the help of six oars plied by six brawny 

 natives (standing and pushing at them, as is the usual 

 mode in this province, instead of the custom of sitting and 

 pulling which prevails in most other places), we rattle along ; 

 the haze-capped hills protruding in bolder relief, and by their 

 gradual convergence marking the inland course of the noble 

 Min — a fine stream, no doubt, but tortuous, and not without 

 its hidden dangers, which, thanks to the exertions of the consular 

 and naval authorities, are fast being buoyed and beaconed. 

 Owing to the troubles at Canton, Foochow has of late years be- 

 come a great mart for teas ; and fine clipper ships, freighted with 

 immensely valuable cargoes of that commodity, periodically wend 

 down the river, homeward bound. Disasters annually occur, 

 causing fearful loss to the insurers ; and will still continue to 

 occur, in spite of the beacons, until the underwriters have the 

 foresight to advance a little capital and supply tug-steamers for 

 the purpose of escorting these vessels beyond all the treacheries 

 of a capricious stream. The discussion of this question, how- 

 ever, we must leave to those more intimately concerned ; our 

 readers in ' The Ibis ' will scarcely be pleased with us for 

 treating them with the mercantile. Let us drop the consul then 

 for the present, and assume the naturalist. The flowing tide, 

 useful for the purpose of carrying us the faster up stream, is 

 not so well adapted for watching the habits of the winter wild- 

 fowl which resort to the muddy flats and margins to feed at the 

 first commencement of the ebb. But still, though not just now 

 engaged in supplying exhausted nature, the sleek-plumed visitors 

 are numerous enough, floating lazily on the water, preening 

 their feathers, or sunning themselves with expanded wing and 

 leg on the rocks and sandy beach. Anser segetum is the chief 

 Goose, and its flights appear to exceed all calculation. The noise 

 of our boat is too much for their suspicious ears, and stretching 



