CHINKSK BIRDS. 13 



country which is often called "Yen Kwoh " or " The lyaud of Swal- 

 lows." Then not to be forgotten are the pigeons, circling about as 

 they do in large flocks from whence floats sweet oeoliau music, due, 

 it must be explained, to ingenious little harps tied on the backs of 

 some of the birds. These involuntary musicians take the position 

 of social leaders, and are followed by crowds of admirers. Pigeons' 

 eggs are much used in cookery, and the natives believe that if 

 freely eaten they render a person immune from smallpox. 



The entire coast of China is alive with gulls, terns, grebes, and 

 curlews, the latter being wonderfully tame and friendly. On the 

 southern coast, herons, egrets and pelicans abound. Swans, geese 

 and ducks resort to inland waters. The duck, of which ten species 

 exist, is almost as ubiquitous as the crow, and on the banks of the 

 rivers are many "duck villages," where the eggs of the domestic 

 varieties are artificially hatched in enormous quantities, and the 

 ducklings are fed and cared for during the first five or six weeks of 

 their lives. Finally they are sold wholesale to " duck boat " men, 

 who peddle them to the country people and in the towns. These 

 men row with a hi;ge oar fastened at the end of the boat or sail but 

 a short distance each day, and every morning the ducks are let 

 loose on shore to forage for themselves. At dusk a boatman will 

 pull out a couple of planks and utter a peculiar cry. This call 

 mvist be explained by old birds to newcomers for the entire quack- 

 ing cargo hurries on board to be lodged for the night in two great 

 pens, which project on either side of the boat. 



Another bird to be met with on the rivers is about the same size 

 as a duck, but far more accomplished, being none other than the 

 fishing cormorant. Short-necked, with a long, slightly-hooked 

 beak, it is not at any time a beauty, but with feathers ruffled by a 

 day's work it looks particularly ugly. At sunset, long lines of the 

 fishing boats may be seen going home, each having on board a 

 dozen or more birds perched in nearly equal numbers on the sides, 

 and it is said that the cormorants' own instinct impels them thus 

 to balance the craft. When numbers of these fishers are in the 

 water together the scene is most lively and interestirg. EJach boat- 

 man sends five or six birds at a time to dive, all of which have an 

 iron ring slipped around the neck, just loose enough to permit free 

 breathing, but not the swallowing of fish. Until a bird's education 

 is finished, this ring is attached to a chord which is pulled when 

 the pupil misbehave? by quarreling, remaining too long under 

 water, or wandering idly about. All graduates know their own 

 master and without delay take their catches to his boat. A full 



