Notes on the Ornithology of Yedo. 145 



kinds to be seen within its boundaries. The profusion of 

 bird life indeed appeared to me to be specially worthy of 

 remark, bearing in mind the great extent and population of 

 Yedo, and the traffic and noise of its busy streets. In the 

 midst of this, and often within reach of the cast of a trout-rod 

 from the sides of crowded streets, wild fowl of all descriptions, 

 from a snipe to a swan, floated quietly at their ease or fed on 

 land, without heeding the bustle around them, or being dis- 

 turbed by the passing crowds. They were, indeed, very rarely 

 molested, owing, I believe, to the shadow of the old law, which 

 made it death to kill a duck in the moats and waters within 

 the town. The law still protects them, though the death 

 penalty has been removed, and I was therefore obliged to con- 

 tent myself by watching their movements with a field-glass, 

 from the roadways and lanes, at a convenient distance. 



In order properly to understand how such numbers and 

 varieties of wild birds can take up their quarters in the very 

 heart of a large city (and this is perhaps the chief feature I 

 have to communicate), a short description of Yedo wiU be 

 necessary. 



Yedo, the present capital of Japan,* is situated at the head 

 of the gulf that bears its name, on the east coast of the island 

 of Mpon, in lat. 35° 42' K, and long. 139° 50' E. approx. 

 The city was founded about three liundred years ago, has a 

 strong castle, and, until 1868, was the chief stronghold of the 

 Tycoons, or commanders-in-chief of the imperial forces, who 

 for some centuries had usurped the chief executive power — a 

 power which belonged alone to the Mikado, who was kept 

 like a state prisoner in his palace in Kioto, the ancient capital 

 of the country. Since the revolution of 1868, which abolished 

 the Tycoonate and restored the emperor to full power, the 

 Mikado has resided in Yedo. 



The rivers, or branches of one river — Sumida and Nakagawa 

 — fall into the Gulf of Yedo ; one branch passing through the 

 city, and the other just outside its bounds. Between the 

 mouths of these rivers there is a considerable extent of 

 marshy gTound, with patches of tall reeds and open water. 



* Yedo has been renamed since the revolution of 1868. It is now called 

 Tokio. 



