Mr. R. Swinlioe on the Ornithology of Hainan. 79 



from the refreshing north-easters, and render it entirely tropi- 

 calj and, according to the Chinese, very pestilential. In Hainan 

 the visitor from China is specially struck with the abundance of 

 the cocoanut tree (a tz'ee not found in the latitude of Can- 

 ton), which meets the eye on all points of the island coast. 

 In spite of the winter monsoon, it flourishes best in the north- 

 east corner of Hainan, in the district of Wenchang. Further 

 in the interior, as the ground rises, the pine [Pinus sinensis) 

 appears, and in some spots I noticed clumps of pine and topes 

 of cocoanut growing side by side. We found the cocoa- 

 nut also growing on the opposite shore of the Luichow penin- 

 sula, and on the small island of Naochow, off the right of the 

 peninsula, in lat. 20° 45'. Higher than this we did not notice 

 it. The mountainous interior of Hainan is inhabited by an 

 independent race of people, who are called La, Lauy, or Le, 

 according to dialectic difference of pronunciation in Chinese ; 

 and they are doubtless intimately connected with the Laos of 

 Siam and Burmah and the Lolos of China. 



We left Hongkong on the 29th January 1868, and anchored 

 in the harbour of Hoeling island, in the Prefecture of Shac- 

 king, at daylight on the 31st. The only birds I noticed here 

 were Passer montanus, lams sinensis, Turtur chinensis, Sterna 

 melanauchen, and a Kite. 



Having engaged a pilot, we were away again next morning, 

 and by the evening in the strait between Naochow island and 

 Luichow peninsula, where the gunboat took the ground. This 

 little accident gave us the whole of the following day for explo- 

 ring Naochow. The land here is low and undulating, dotted 

 with villages and farms in the midst of bamboos and banyans. 

 The cocoanut tree is chiefly confined to the north-west corner 

 of the island. The most notable bird we saw here was the 

 Crane [Grus cinerea), which occurred in large flocks, and baffled 

 all our attempts at close approach. The first bird I noticed 

 and shot on landing was a race of the Ixus sinensis, with the 

 whole crown black and no occipital white. We saw and pro- 

 cured several of these, but not one of the true Chinese bird. 

 The next bird we secured was a veritable example of the Euro- 

 pean Corvus corone. There were two together, and we bagged 



