Birds of Manchuria. 423 



though very wet, rain falhng '' almost without intermission " 

 from May to the end of August. 



The resident species of birds seem to be comparatively few 

 in number, w'hile, on the whole, the avifauna appears to re- 

 semble that of Siberia very closely, and in North Manchuria 

 might almost be said to be boreal in character. This is 

 especially noticeable in the various races of Spotted Wood- 

 peckers and Marsh-Tits, which, in some cases, appear to be 

 almost identical with those existing in tlie extreme north of 

 Europe. Tardus duhius, Frinyilla montifrinciilla, and Calcarius 

 lapponicus are among the birds that I was surprised to find 

 so far south during the breediug-season. Below Kirin the 

 avifauna naturally tends to become more " tropical" or 

 like that of China: as examples of this, I might mention 

 Halcyon coromanda, Eurystumus calonyx, and Terpsiphone 

 incii. 



Dr. Valentine Bianclii has compiled a brief catalogue of the 

 birds collected by Capt. Karpow * (comprising 51 species), 

 and this has been published in the ' Annuaire du Musee de 

 St. Petersbourg ' for 1902. Sir Evan James's collection is now 

 in the Natural History Museum, where I have been able to 

 make a careful examination of all his specimens. Reference 

 to these will be found in the following pages, the collector's 

 initials appearing in brackets after each entry. Perhaps it is 

 hardly necessary to say that the list of birds contained in the 

 present paper is anything but complete. I have no doubt 

 that when the country becomes better known there will be 

 many species to add to the number. However, I trust that 

 my work will serve at least as a foundation for the future 

 study of Manchurian ornithology. 



In his interesting book, 'The Long White Mountain,' 

 Sir Evan James describes Manchuria as being essentially a 

 highland country; almost the entire south and east being 

 occupied by the Pai-shan and other mountains, while tne 

 Khingans occupy the north-western corner. The same writer 

 goes on to say that " The plain country is limited to tne 



* In that paper, -written in Russian, the town Yingtzu is spelt Inkow, 

 or Inkoii. 



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