5d With boat and gun in 'iKE Yangtze valleV. 



traversed may in some cases be in excess of the actual figures given. A point of interest is 

 suggested by Mr. Dixon and that is the daily distance accomplished, for it must be evident 

 that the migrants must settle somewhere in the twenty-four hours for food and water and rest. 

 " Probably migrating birds do not average more than 300 miles per day : but certainly 

 birds travel quicker Northward in the spring than they do Southward in autumn." 



As far as China is concerned the wild fowl after quitting their breeding grounds in 

 the region of the Arctic Circle pass over Siberia and Mongolia, and settle for our winter 

 months between the parallels of 40 and 20 North latitude. Shanghai is eminently well 

 situated for the observation of the migratory flightings, situated as it is between the wide 

 estuaries of the Yangtze and Chientang rivers, but very rarely are the birds seen as they 

 pass over, though distinctly heard and apparently tantalizingly near at times. 



" Wild birds that change 



Their season in the night, and wail their way 

 From cloud to cloud " 



Wild fowl naturally put in their first seasonal appearance near Tientsin two or three 

 weeks earlier than they favour these provinces. Hence their course is slowly southwards. 

 But the flight line is a broad one, embracing the enormous area whose western limit may be 

 defined by the one-hundredth meridian of east longtitude and the eastern by the coast lines 

 of Siberia and China. 



Of the thirty different kinds of wild fowl to be met with in the Yangtze Valley only 

 three species breed in our river. 



(l.) The yellow nib duck {Anas zonorhyncha) which is the only duck that 

 remains with us throughout the year. In this species the duck and drake are almost 

 alike, and much resemble the common wild duck in general appearance but are 

 larger, darker in the body, very long in the neck, and have a black bill with a yellow 

 band across the top. 



(2.) The cotton teal, goose teal or tree duck {Nettapus coromandelianus) an Indian 

 species, which reaches us in large numbers in May, months after our annual visitors 

 have left us, and remains to breed — nesting in trees and frequenting gardens and the 

 roofs of houses. This teal is a perfect little goose in shape, and a most extraordinary 

 characteristic is the comparative ease with which it can settle on a branch of a tree or 

 chimney-pot in spite of its web-feet. Some years ago a considerable number might 

 have been seen in Kiukiang in the early tea season. 



(3.) The lesser whistling teal (Dendrocygna javanica) is also another Indian bird 

 which nests in trees. 



The following, are the wild fowl that visit the Yangtze and its feeders in the winter. 



In the first place there are two kinds of swans. The Whooper or Wild Swan, 

 somewhat scarce, and Bewick's Swan, which is very common. 



Then there are six descriptions of Geese, The Grey-lag Goose and the White-fronted 

 Goose, neither very common, and the Bean Goose the lesser White-fronted Goose, the Swan 

 Goose, the former very common and the latter not infrequently met with. And finally the 

 Pacific Brent Goose, which is better known in Japan but may be found among the many 

 islands on the China Coast. 



