362 Mr. R. Swinhoe on Chinese Ornithology . 



residence in Shanghai on the 7th February. Here I shall 

 remain till the middle of the month (April) , when the weather 

 will have sufficiently moderated in the north to allow of my 

 going to my new post at Chefoo. In Shanghai, in spite of 

 my paralytic infirmities, I have been able to get about on the 

 wheelbarrows that serve the natives of the settlement for 

 hansom-cabs. I take a wheelbarrow to market every other 

 morning, and have done so for the whole two months I have 

 spent in this very pleasant town. By this means I have 

 studied the wild fowl which pass the shooting-grounds that 

 provide the market, and have gained some tolerable additions 

 to my collection. I had not been in Shanghai more than a 

 wgeek, when one sunny morning, with the thermometer at 

 freezing-point, as I was passing under a group of willows which 

 overhang the road, my attention was attracted by a strange 

 noise overhead, and, looking up, I saw a party of Waxwings. 

 There were about fifteen of them, sitting like Hawfinches 

 about the trees, with ruffled plumage, as if nipped by the cold. 

 They were all engaged in the chorus, which consisted of a 

 series of jingling notes like the sound produced by light pieces 

 of metal shaken together, with a slight additional noise of 

 sniffling. Is this the garrulousness indicated by the name 

 Ampelis garrula ? If so, the author of the name must have 

 had a very sensitive ear. They flew away in small parties, 

 those remaining continuing the song, until all had taken wing. 

 On the 1st March I was delighted to see a number of them 

 on a tree in my own garden, dropping down on to the lilac 

 trees and feeding on their black berries. I secured three 

 specimens, two males and a female. These were tinged with 

 soot-colour, like, but not so strongly as our Sparrows, which 

 arises in these last from their habit of repairing for warmth 

 to the chimney-stacks on the tops of our houses. A Wax- 

 wing, shot in the country, was given me which was free from 

 such stain. I took down the following notes on my first three 

 specimens : — 



Ampelis garrula, 6 ■ Spec. A. Length 7*4 inches. Wing 

 4-6; first quill '12 shorter than second, the longest, falls S7 

 short of tip of tail, 16 longer than tip of tertiaries. Tail 



