Mongols do not bury their dead, but drag them out into the desert, where they 
leave them to be devoured by the fowls of the air or the beasts of the field. 
The pretty little Chinese jackdaw, whose clean white collar and breast 
and shiny black head, back, wings and tail give it a neat, clerical appearance, 
often associates in large flocks with the handsome red-billed chough. They 
frequent the same localities and both build their nests in crevices and holes in 
high loess or rocky cliffs. 
The white-necked crow is never seen in mountainous regions, and even on 
the fertile plains is not over abundant. It is a very solitary bird, and is 
seldom seen except singly. Its near cousins, the carrion crow and the black 
crow, are on the other hand more common and gregarious, being found in 
flocks wherever there is a chance of obtaining sustenance. 
The common magpie (Pica caudata) and the azure-winged magpie 
(Cyanopolius cyanus), a beautiful little pie with delicate mauve-grey body, white 
throat, black head and azure blue wings and tail, seldom fail to appear in every 
locality. The graceful blue magpie (Urocissa sinensis), not unlike the last 
mentioned species but larger, with crimson beak and legs, more blue and 
purple on the body, and proportionately longer tail, is less widely distributed. 
It is found only in central and southern Shensi, southern Shansi and parts of 
Kansu. 
In the mountains of Shansi and in southern Shensi, a handsome jay 
(Garrulus sinensis) is found, while in the pine forests of Shansi and Kansu the 
noisy nutcracker (Nucif/raga caryocatactes) sends forth its rollicking, laughter-like 
call. All these species nest in the country, but some only are partially 
migratory. This is noticeable chiefly in the case of the rooks, which at the 
approach of winter, leave the northern parts of the provinces, where they 
build their nests in the trees of the towns, and villages, accepting the 
protection of man. They fly to the warmer plains of the south or to the flat 
coastal regions of Chihli. 
Finches in vast numbers cross these provinces during the migratory 
seasons, nesting in the remote mountainous regions of the north and west. 
Few if any remain to breed on the plains. Amongst the most noticeable of 
these are the crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), hawfinch (Coccothraustes japonicus), 
Chinese goldfinch (Ligurinus hawarahiba), brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), 
rosefinch (Carpodacus roseus), and a_ beautiful scarlet-tinted finch named 
Propasser pulcherrimus. 
Three species of bunting, Emberiza ciopsis, E. rustica and E. elegans might 
also be added to this group, but they are non-migratory, nesting in the 
G 97 
