1920.] On the Birds of North- East Chihli. 6.39 



XXIII. — Notes on the Birds of North-East Chihli, in North 

 China. By J. D. D. La Touche, C.M.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



A FAIRLY full description of the port of Cliinwangtao, in 

 north-east Chihli, China, where the bulk of the follow- 

 m^ notes were written, having already appeared in ' The 

 Ibis' (1914, p. 560), it is unnecessary to revert to the 

 subject, except to mention that, since that time, Chin- 

 wangtao has been extensively planted with acacias. These 

 trees having formed thick woods, impenetrable in summer 

 and autumn, the observation of new arrivals is now more 

 difficult than when the sandhills were bare. The only clear 

 ground at present is along the cliffs above the beach. The 

 planting of trees had not induced birds to nest when I left 

 Chinwangtao, probably on account of the want of water. 

 In time, however, the trees should cause permanent damp- 

 ness and the formation of pools in certain parts, and this 

 should induce birds to linger and eventually breed there. 



A visit to the mountains north of Chinwangtao in the 

 autumn of 1916, enabled me to ascertain that they 

 are covered in certain parts with new woods ; but large 

 timber is practically non-existent, and the scarcity of 

 birds at the time of ray visit was very marked. Curvus 

 levaillanti. Magpies (only too abundant), Urocissa erythro- 

 rhyncha, Jays and Choughs, a few common Tits, Pterorhinus 

 davidi, Rhopophilus pekinensis, Emberiza leucocephala, E. 

 cioides, some Green and Spotted Woodpeckers, a few Hawks 

 and Pheasants, and Chukore were almost the only birds 

 noticed. Further to the west and north-west, towards the 

 Tnngling and the Imperial Hunting park, where the country 

 has unfortunately been handed over to a Vandal peasantry, 

 the few remaining forests shelter many interesting species. 

 It will not be long, however, before the last of these accessible 

 forests disappears and takes away with it the fauna that 

 even now is on the verge of extinction. 



I am greatly indebted to Mr. A. de C. Sowerby, late 

 of Tientsin, and to the Rev. Geo. D. Wilder, of the 

 American Board of Missions, Peking, for important and 



