42 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



ness, storing quantities of fat in their great hump res- 

 ervoirs. 



There was even more bird life than I had seen the 

 previous September. The geese had all flown north- 

 ward where we would find them scattered over their 

 summer breeding grounds, but thousands of demoiselle 

 cranes (Anthropoides Virgo) had taken their places in 

 the fields. They were in the midst of the spring court- 

 ing and seemed to have lost all fear. One pair re- 

 mained beside the road until we were less than twenty 

 feet away, stepping daintily aside only when we threat- 

 ened to run them down. Another splendid male per- 

 formed a love dance for the benefit of his prospective 

 bride quite undisturbed by the presence of our cars. 

 With half-spread wings he whirled and leaped about 

 the lady while every feather on her slim, blue body ex- 

 pressed infinite boredom and indifference to his pas- 

 sionate appeal. 



Ruddy sheldrakes, mallards, shoveler ducks, and teal 

 were in even the smallest ponds and avocets with sky- 

 blue legs and slender recurved bills ran along the shores 

 of a lake at which we stopped for tiffin. When we 

 had passed the last Chinese village and were well in 

 the Mongolian grasslands we had great fun shooting 

 gophers (Citellus mongolicus umbratus) from the cars. 

 It was by no means easy to kill them before they slipped 

 into their dens, and I often had to burrow like a ter- 

 rier to pull them out even when they were almost dead. 

 We got eighteen, and camped at half past four in 

 order that the taxidermists might have time to prepare 



