230 LATE SPRING. 



spring flight of the feathered tribe. The mornings 

 and evenino^s were almost as still and silent as in 

 midwinter ; the call of the widgeon, the cackle of 

 geese, the cry of the sea-gull, or the noise of the 

 duck were indeed rare sounds, and had it not been 

 for the loud notes of the great lark [Melanocorypha 

 maxima), the shores of Koko-nor had been indeed 

 voiceless. 



Spring fell far short of our expectations, and 

 birds were not nearly so numerous as they were on 

 Dalai-nor at the same season, two years ago. 1пЫ1 

 probability they leave Koko-nor to one side in their 

 flight northwards, keeping to the valley of the 

 Hoang-ho and to China Proper, and avoiding the 

 Kan-su mountains and the deserts of Ala-shan. 

 In proof of this, I may mention that we found many 

 kinds of waterfowl in the northern bend of the 

 Hoang-ho which we never saw at Koko-nor : such 

 as Anser cyguoides, A. scgetum, Anas falcata, Ardea 

 cinerea, Fulica atra, and others. 



The dearth of birds induced us to abandon our 

 intention of remaining on the shores of the lake 

 until the end of April ; so on the 13th we broke up 

 our camp and marched towards the temple of Chob- 

 sen by the same road that we had travelled in 

 autumn. We might have taken the easier route ^ 

 through Tonkir, but having experienced the unplea- 

 santness of journeying through thickly populated 



' After the re-capturc by the Chinese troops of the towns of Si-ning 

 and Scn;j-kwan. 



