Many kinds of warblers pass through the country, the most noticeable of 
which are the ruby-throated warbler (Erythacus calliope) and the blue-throated 
warbler (Erythacus caeruleculus). 
The little green wren or Silver-eye (Zosterops erythropleura) is very common 
during the summer, while in the spring the pipit (Anthus spinoletta) abounds on 
the plains and in the valleys, especially where marshy ground exists. 
The nuthatch (Sitta amurensis) keeps mainly to the pine forests of the 
mountains, where it scrambles like a woodpecker up and down the great tree- 
trunks, or hangs upside down from the cones. Tits are very common in the 
same districts, the chief of these being the tomtit (Farus minor), the coletit 
(P. hensoni), the bluetit (P. venustulus), the crested tit (Lophophanes dichrous), and 
the long-tailed titmouse (Acredula glaucogularis). The foregoing species, 
together with the larks, timeline birds and hedgesparrows, are non-migratory. 
The timelines are thrush-like birds, all more or less gifted with song, and 
many a sweet note rising above the countless pleasant sounds of the wilderness 
may be attributed to these birds. The commonest member of this family is a 
graceful though sombre-coloured bird called Pterorhinus davidi, sometimes known 
as the ‘‘ seven sisters bird.” This peculiar name is derived from the fact that 
birds of this species-are frequently found in little groups of five, six or seven 
playing about in the underbrush. 
A much smaller species, with proportionately longer tail, goes by the 
name of Rhopophilus pekinensis, and, like the foregoing species, is very common in 
the mountains of the north, where it builds a compact, deep nest in the low 
bushes of the valleys. 
Pomatorhinus gravivox, a very handsome species, is found in wooded districts, 
further south. It has a particularly sweet song. In the mountains south of 
Hsi-an Fu in Shensi, I came across two other species, one of which, called 
Dryonastes perspicillatus, is a large dusky coloured bird. The other, 7rochalopteron 
prjevalskii, resembles Pterorhinus davidi in size and form but is characterised by 
having the wing and tail feathers of a peculiar metallic lustre which show either 
a brassy yellow or steely blue colour according to the way the light falls on them. 
Two species of thrush, namely Twurdus ruficollis and T. naumanni are winter 
visitors only. Bothare characterised by having reddy brown tails and breasts, 
but the breast of the latter is spotted with black. Their heads, backs and 
wings are of a grey-brown, whilst their bellies and rumps are white. These 
birds are seen throughout the winter in large flocks. During the spring, 
however, ere they betake themselves northward, they split up into smaller 
groups of three and four. 
