on the Bii'ds of South-eastern China. 355 



varies from five to eight in number. Some of the eggs 

 obtained at Kwei Hsien were of a plain light olive-colour 

 unspotted, but most have obscure speckliugs of a rusty hue ; 

 the inside of the egg-shells is of a turquoise blue. Eggs 

 vary from '99 to '92 in length, and from '76 to '72 in 

 breadth, whilst they average '95 x '74<. 



Bambusicola thoracica. 



The Bamboo Partridge is only found at Howlik, in the 

 forest there. It appears to be a resident, and on May 31 a 

 bird with a brood of chicks was seen by Kershaw. It 

 shows a partiality for thick scrub on the borders of streams ; 

 it is exceedingly stealthy in its movements, runs with extra- 

 ordinary rapidity, and is obtained with very great difficulty. 

 The eggs were not met with. 



Phasianus torquatus. 



According to Fortune, ' Wanderings in China,' who 

 was at Hong Kong in 1841-3, Pheasants were at that 

 time fairly abundant, not far away on the mainland, and 

 many were brought to Victoria and sold to the Europeans. 

 Of course these birds may have come from further afield 

 than he imagined, but still in those days they were not likely 

 to have been imported from Shanghai, as they are now, and 

 so, presumably, they really were not very uncommon on the 

 mainland sixty years ago. 



At the present time a Pheasant is an extremely rare bird 

 in the vicinity of Hong Kong or Macao, and indeed is not 

 common anywhere in either Province, so far as the writers 

 are aware. Plenty can be purchased alive in Canton, but 

 these are brought down from the Province of Yunnan in 

 junks, or on rafts. 



The shooting of Pheasants is arduous, and three or four in a 

 day is a good bag, for these wild birds run very fast and are got 

 to rise with difficulty. A couple of nests of this species were 

 found on a cultivated island, on the North River, one in long 

 grass and the other in a field of peas, both by Chinese whilst 

 reaping. One of them contained five and the other seven 

 eaes. 



