intended victim. The flight of the fastest duck would have been slow 
compared with such speed, for the birds were not only gaining impetus from 
their rapidly descending course, but adding to their motive power by a 
vigorous use of their powerful wings. The chase must have ended 
disastrously for the pheasant, but for the wood which suddenly loomed up in 
front of the terrified bird. Without wavering she dashed into the wood, 
crashed through some hindering branches and fetched up with a sickening 
thud against a stout trunk, coming to the ground like a stone mid showers of 
twigs, leaves and feathers. The eagle, with a supreme effort shot upwards, 
narrowly missing the tops of the trees, and rose high into the air before the 
momentum generated by the headlong downward swoop gave out. Hurrying 
to the spot where the pheasant had fallen I was surprised not to find her, but 
there were several souvenirs of her devastating journey through the upper 
branches of the stately pines. 
A bald-headed eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus) and a white-tailed eagle 
(H. pelagicus) also inhabit North China, though the former is rather rare, two 
only being seen on the present expedition. The latter is found along the 
rivers of the large plains, generally as the ice is breaking up in the spring. 
Two vultures are found in the highest mountain ranges. One of these, 
the lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus) is comparatively common, while the other, 
the cinereous vulture (Vultur monachus), a large black species, is very rare. One 
specimen measured by me was 93 feet across the wings. 
The kite (Milvus melanotis) is very common, not only in the country, but 
also in the large cities, where, together with pigs and dogs, it renders valuable 
services to yellow humanity, as a scavenger of undoubted efficiency. These 
birds may frequently be seen in large flocks circling continuously at great 
altitudes and at the same time moving steadily in one direction till they 
disappear from view. This is suggestive of a migration, but is in no way 
connected with the regular spring and autumn migrations of other birds. 
The North China kite also seems to migrate in sandstorms. This act 
may, however, be involuntary, the birds overtaken when at a considerable 
height above the earth, being driven helplessly by the fury of the gale till 
they succeed in reaching the ground. Whatever the explanation, the fact 
remains that the traveller overtaken by one of these sandstorms—which come 
down from Mongolia with the appearance of mighty walls thousands of feet 
high, and blotting out the landscape as they approach—will shortly see 
the dark forms of innumerable kites in every direction. 
The sacred falcon (Falco sacer), the peregrine (Falco peregrinus), and the 
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