94 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



geese (Cygnopsis cygnoides). They are splendid fel- 

 lows with a broad, brown band down the back of the 

 neck, and are especially interesting as being the ances- 

 tors of the Chinese domestic geese. They were not 

 afraid of horses, but left immediately if a man on foot 

 approached. I killed half a dozen by slipping off my 

 pony, when about two hundred yards away, and walking 

 behind the horses while Yvette rode boldly toward the 

 flock, leading Kublai Khan. Twice the birds fell across 

 the river, and we had to swim for them. My pony took 

 to the water like a duck and when we had reached the 

 other bank would arch his neck as proudly as though he 

 had killed the bird himself. His keen interest in sport, 

 his gentleness, and his intelligence won my heart at once. 

 He would let me shoot from his back without the slight- 

 est fear, even though he had never been used as a hunting 

 pony by Prince Tze Tze from whom he had been pur- 

 chased. 



In the ponds and among the long marsh grass we 

 found the ruddy sheldrake (Casarca casarca), and the 

 crested lapwing ( Vanellus vanelliis) . They were like 

 old friends, for we had met them first in far Yiin-nan 

 and on the Burma frontier during the winter of 1916-17 

 whence they had gone to escape the northern cold ; now 

 they were on their summer breeding grounds. The shel- 

 drakes glowed like molten gold when the sun found them 

 in the grass, and we could not have killed the beautiful 

 birds even had we needed them for food. Moreover, 

 like the lapwings, they had a trusting simplicity, a way 

 of throwing themselves on one's mercy, which was in- 



