80 Mr. 11. Swinhoe on the Oniilhology of Hainan. 



one of them. In Hainan, as will be seen further on, the 

 ordinary big- billed black Crow, found from Canton to Peking 

 — the Corvus sinensis of Gould — is the common species, and in 

 the cities almost as familiar anek domestic as the Sparrow. I 

 am not aware that the European Corby has occurred in this 

 part of the world before. The other birds we observed in our 

 day's ramble were as follows : — Gallinago scolupacina, Rhynchcea 

 sinensis, Ardeola prasinoscelis, Egretta alba, Passer montanus, 

 Turtur chinensis, T. humilis, T. gelastes, Ruticilla aurorea, Pra- 

 iincola indica, Lanius schach, Copsychus saularis, Orthotomus 

 phyllorliapheus, Reguloides superciliosus, R. proregulus, Zusterops 

 simplex, Emberiza personata, Anthus richardi, Motacilla luzoni- 

 ensis, Pica sericea, Corvus torqiiatus, Halcyon pileatus, Acri- 

 dotheres cristatellus, Buteo japonicus, Tinnunculus alaiidarius, a 

 species of Eudynamis, and only one Kite. 



On the 3rd of Februai'y, at daylight, we weighed, and an- 

 chored in the afternoon in the open harbour of Hoihow, the 

 port of the city of Kiungchow, the capital of Hainan. Through 

 the kindness of Messrs. D. B. Robertson and F. W. Mayers, 

 Her Majesty's Consul and Vice-Consul at Canton, I had been 

 provided with letters from the Viceroy of Kwangtung, recom- 

 mending me to the care and attention of the Governor, the Pre- 

 fect, and the military commaAders of Hainan. These officers 

 received us well, and exerted themselves to assist us in the 

 objects of our expedition. Commander Domvile was " death 

 on" pirates; and news having arrived that pirate junks had 

 been seen hovering about the neighbourhood, the Captain of 

 Hoihow hired junks and arranged a joint cruise with the gun- 

 boat in chase of them. This gave me a chance of having a 

 quiet trip into the interior ; and on the 6th of February I left the 

 gunboat just as she was starting, and put up for the night at 

 the house of a Canton merchant. On the 7th I rode to the city 

 of Kiungchow, about two miles and a half distant from Hoihow, 

 and took up my quarters in a public office provided for me by 

 the Taotai or Governor. The next seven days I spent in official 

 duties, in rambling about the city and its neighbourhood, and 

 in paying a visit to a French Roman- Catholic priest, who lived 

 in Chinese style and costume, in a small village about ten miles 



