306 Mr. J. D. de La Touche on 



place some 25 miles east of Anping, had been planned, the 

 party to consist of Messrs. Bain, Macgowan, and myself. 

 The English missionaries, who have a mission-house there, 

 had put it at Mr. Bain's disposal. Thence we were to go on 

 to Lakuli, about 15 miles further inland. 



The country around Anping is perfectly flat ; it is divided 

 into cultivated fields by wide ditches, with banks overgrown 

 with high grass. There are but few trees, and small bamboo- 

 groves appear here and there at a certain distance from the 

 sea. A short walk that I took on the afternoon after my 

 arrival was of little interest, the only birds noticed being 

 a few small Waders {Ardea garzetta) , several Lanius schach, 

 Turtur chinensis (one), some small birds frequenting long 

 grasses and pandanus-hedges, which I took to be Prinia 

 inornata, locus sinensis, and a flock of Buchanga atra, one of 

 which I shot. 



I went out one morning after Snipe with Capt. Hodgins, 

 of the steamer I came in. As we went up the creek in a 

 '^tekpai " (a raft made of large bamboos) towards the Snipe- 

 grounds we saw a good many shore-birds on the mud-flats, 

 and a large flock of white birds in the distance like Spoon- 

 bills, but we were too far off to be sure. We landed a few 

 miles up the creek on a marshy place divided into fields by 

 high banks, on either side of which were wide ditches. Snipe- 

 shooting in this locality seems to be specially arduous work, 

 as, in order to get at the birds, one has to cross the ditches, 

 sometimes 3 feet deep, and often to walk amongst rushes 

 with water up to one's knees ; the Snipe, strange to say, 

 being found in these places. We saw several — all, I believe, 

 Gallinago ccelestis ; also many Golden Plovers {Charadrius 

 fulvus), Totanus glareola, various Sand- Plovers and Stints, 

 and a few Buchanga atra, with strange Formosan ways new 

 to me. A good many Larks {Alauda wattersi) were about 

 the dry fields, as well as Pipits (Anthus cervinus) and Wag- 

 tails {Motacilla taivana). We saw also a large gathering 

 of Grey Herons [Ardea cinerea) , several Ardea alba, and a 

 smaller species, which I took to be A. garzetta. We were 

 back in Anping at 10.30, as the heat was very great. 



