1 92 1.] Birds uf North-East Chihli. 37 



273. Ardetta sinensis (Gm.). 

 Ar delta sinensis D. & O. p. 448. 



I have not obtained any specimens of the Chinese Little 

 Bittern in the vicinity of Chinwangtao, but I liave a number 

 of the eggs of the bird, which were brought to me from the 

 Hsien Chia Ying marshes and which had been taken in June 

 and July. 



274. Cygnus cygnus (L.). 

 Cygnus ferns D. & O. p. 493. 



An example of the Whooper was exposed for sale in the 

 market during January 1912. 



A handsome adult Swan, which I originally took to be of 

 this species but which I now think must be an adult male 

 C.jankoivskyi, was brought to me alive on the 19th of March, 

 1917. It had been snared and was quite uninjured. This 

 bird lived in our yard throughout the summer and did not 

 appear to suft'er from the summer heat. It was successfully 

 taken to Shanghai when we left Chinwangtao in the follow- 

 ing October and was given to Pere Courtois, the Curator of 

 the Sikawei Museum, who has placed it, together with the 

 other wild fowl presented to him by me that autumn, in a 

 large ench^sure attached to the Museum. This Swan refused 

 all food until the 22nd of March, when it ate some soaked 

 bread. The next day it ate boiled green beans, and until 

 late in the summer, when it began to eat the bran and 

 kaoliang given to the other wild fowl in the yard, it would 

 touch nothing but these boiled green beans. It became 

 fairly tame after a few weeks, but never came up to ask for 

 its food like the wild geese did. At the end of March it 

 began to call, the sound being a gentle " cook cook.'' 

 Later in the summer and in the autumn it occasionally 

 uttered a loud call sounding something like " waw '' or 

 "wow." Several times during the spring this bird and its 

 companion in captivity (a (\ jankoivskyi) were seen to 

 perform a curious wild dance round the yard, running 

 madly with open wings and uttering love screams. I did not 

 witness these performances myself, but they tcjok place in 

 the presence of my children, who reported the facts to me. 



