mountains and wintering in the foothills and on the plains. The Chinese 

 capture these finches with the aid of bird-lime made from hempseed oil. In 

 the spring: and autumn the bird-catcher repairs to some wooded, hilly district, 

 and having made his preparations, he takes up his position on the top of some 

 nd^e. He is armed with several long: rods, on the ends of which are fastened 

 branching: twig:s, carefully smeared with bird-lime. Several call-birds in cag:es 

 are hung: in the leafy parts of some suitable youn^ pine, and the rods are placed 

 in such a position that the twig:s stick out just above the higfhest branch of each 

 respective tree. The protruding: twig: offers a tempting: perch for any passing 

 finch and many a wretched bird thus falls into the ruthless hands of the snarer, 

 who has been quietly waiting: a few yards distant. The birds are sold according 

 to their value as songsters or trick birds. Crossbills, hawfinches, and bram- 

 blings are readily trained to do various tricks, whilst the Chinese goldfinch 

 and the rosefinch are valued for their vocal powers. 



A large and handsome grosbeak, named Eophom melanura, is also caught 

 during the migrations and is especially valued by the Chinese as a trick bird. 

 This bird is of a dull grey colour with shiny black head, wings and tail. It 

 possesses a large very thick and strong beak of a bright yellow colour. We 

 saw many larks, the exact names of which I was not able to ascertain. 



Soft-billed birds are very numerous. These are found throughout the 

 summer, but most of them migrate to the south in winter. 



The first to appear in the spring are the starling (Stemus sinensis), and the 

 redstarts {Phcsnicurus auroreus and Ruticilla rufiventns). These are shortly 

 followed by great numbers of other species, which scatter over the country, 

 taking up their abodes where conditions are most congenial to their modes of 

 life. Thus we find a variety of wheatear (Saxicola mono) repairing to the 

 desert areas, such as exist in and on the borders of Mongolia. Here it shares 

 the burrows of the ground-squirrel (Citellus), and brings up a lively brood of 

 from four to six hungry squawking fledglings. 



The pied wagtail (Motacilla alboides) finds a suitable nesting-place in the 

 bushes that line the ravines and gorges of the mountains, whilst a beautiful 

 yellow-headed variety (M citreoUdes) , after swarming along the rivers and over 

 the marshes during the spring, travels north to the rich Siberian plains. 



A third very common wagtail {M. alba) seems to find suitable nesting 

 places everywhere, and many may be seen from March till October. 



The redstarts resort to old temples and disused buildings, making their 

 nests in suitable holes in the masonry. The black redstart {Ruticilla rufiuentris) 

 is much rarer than the other species and nests in out-of-the-way ravines, 

 either of loess or rock. 



