450 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
“Finally, a third species, also much used in the promenades, 
is a sort of Titmouse, Suthora Webbiana, Gray, which the Chinese 
call Hsiang-sse-niao, meaning -‘loye-bird,’ because they keep 
close to each other on their perches and seem exceedingly 
affectionate. 
‘Tt is thus that, indirectly and by transparent allusions, the 
Chinese promenaders exchange over the wings of their captives 
their pledges of affection, and their wishes for prosperity. Is 
not this more delicate and more refined than the simple touch 
of the hat with which we in passing greet each other ? 
‘But a fresh season brings fresh amusement, namely, the 
game of Grosbeaks, of which three species are recognised, one 
exactly resembling our own, but more particularly remarkable 
from its large wax-coloured beak, from whence its Chinese name 
of La-tswi is derived ; this is the Grosbeak of Japan and of Mant- 
chouria, Eophona personata, Schlegel. ‘These birds are wonder- 
fully docile, and when the promenades of birds have ceased, the 
Chinese fix little perches on the fronts of their dwellings, to 
which the Grosbeaks are fastened. There are householders who 
have ten, twenty, up to thirty Grosbeaks fastened by the neck. 
They touch and handle them without their manifesting any 
signs of fear. The sport for which they are used is this :—The 
owner undoes the fastening which goes round the neck of his 
bird; he then goes to a distance and shows it a grain of millet- 
seed which he puts in his mouth. Then he has a little ball of 
clay, which he throws up in the air to a great height. The 
Grosbeak springs from his perch, flies up and catches the little 
ball at the instant when, having ceased to ascend, it is about to 
fall to the ground; then he returns and perches on the shoulder 
of his master, who rewards him by giving him the grain of millet- 
seed. Some of these birds are so clever at this kind of exercise 
that, not satisfied with fetching a single ball, they will even 
catch a second one thrown up at the same time as the first. 
But as the ball is a hard substance, either clay or ivory, and the 
bird’s beak is not elastic, they resort to a trick which enables 
them to carry two balls at the same time. The first ball thrown 
up must be smaller than the second, so that the first goes well 
into the mouth, while the largest one is held between the 
mandibles; otherwise the bird, opening his beak to seize the 
second, would be obliged, like the crow in the fable, to let fall 
