BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 197 



the Hoang-ho. Of the mammals there are the 

 black-tailed antelope {Antilope subgutturosa), hares 

 {Lep2is Tolai), foxes, wolves, and small rodents. Of 

 birds those we saw were mostly pheasants {Phasiamts 

 to7^quahLs), larks {Alauda arveiisis, A. pispoletta ? 

 Galeria cristata ?) Wheat-ears {Saxicola deserti ; S. 

 cenanthe), and hoopoes {Upupa Epops). On the 

 marshes and lakes were geese {A user cygnoides, A. 

 cinereus), ducks {Anas bosckas, A. acuta, A. riitila, 

 and others), marsh harriers {Circus riifus, С spilo- 

 notiis), terns {Sterna leiccoptera, Sterna sp.), stilts 

 {Hypsibates himantopus), avosets {Recicruirostra 

 Avocetta), snipe {Scolopax gallinago, S.megala}) and 

 small sand-pipers {Totanus ochropus, T. glareola, 

 Tringa submimUd). On the River itself there were 

 gulls {bar us ridibundus, L. occidentalis ?) and a 

 fishing-eagle [Halza^tos Macei) may often be seen 

 seated motionless on the precipitous banks. Ordos, 

 like the whole of Mongolia, is so poor in birds that 

 we only found 104 kinds in the valley of Hoang-ho 

 and among the oases in the sands of Kuzupchi. It 

 is probable that there are not many kinds of fish in 

 the River. At all events we only caught six species 

 in our small net — the Silurus {S. asotus), carp {Cy- 

 primis carpid), the crucian carp {Curassicus vulgaris^, 

 dog-fish {Sqtialms Chine^isis), and two new kinds, 

 perhaps two new genera, of the family of Cyprinidce. 

 We also procured some specimens of tortoises 

 ( Trionyx sp.), which are found in great numbers in 

 the Hoang-ho. 



As regards population in Ordos since the de- 

 vastation caused by the Dungan insurrection in 



