434 MR. R. SWINHOE ON CHINESE ZOOLOGY. [June 9, 
walls of its interior the rock was broken into shelves ; and here the 
Rock-pigeon (Columba rupestris, Bp.) resorted in hosts to rear its 
voung, and find a cool retreat from the noonday sun. A shout and 
a few stones thrown in brought them out in swarms. The Sparrow, 
of course, also availed itself of so satisfactory a site. A pair of 
Kestrels had a nest on the cliff overlooking the hole; and several 
species of Hawks were about. In this neighbourhood I also observed 
Choughs, Fregilus graculus (L.). Their peculiar, loud, discordant 
notes were quite enough to inform you of their approach. 
On the 7th we got donkeys and crossed the hills, making south- 
eastwards to the temple Ling-shan-sze, where the British minister 
resided. This is a very fine temple, situated on a lower slope of the 
range that faces Peking, and commands a fine view of the plain with 
the great city in the distance, and the lower wall to the south of it 
enclosing the Nan-Haitsze, or ‘‘Southern-Marsh” hunting-grounds 
of the Emperors, celebrated among zoologists as the only known 
habitat of the Hlaphurus davidianus. To the north can be traced 
the various parks and gardens of the Emperor’s summer abode, 
in which are confined the Cervus xanthopygus, M.-Edwards, the 
C. mantchuricus, mihi, and the Capreolus pygargus (Pall.). To the 
latter Europeans can get admission; but the ‘‘Southern Marsh” 
is closed against them: it is of large extent, and has east and west 
gates, at both of which troops are quartered. Foreigners have taken 
these guardians by surprise, and ridden in before they could close 
the gates. But beyond the barracks of the household cavalry there 
is nothing to be seen but low woods and marshy places—in fact, a 
neglected expanse abandoned to the E/aphurus, some few Cervus mant- 
churicus, and Antilope gutturosa, Pall. Being informed of the 
interest the Society took in this animal by its indefatigable secretary, 
Sir Rutherford Aleock moved one of the high ministers to procure 
him some of the fawns alive. Four were obtained, but they were 
so shaken by the cart that conveyed them to the legation that one 
died. The mandarin sent a fifth. The minister desired me to look 
after them, and I had left them in the legation doing well; but the 
day after my arrival at Ling-shan-sze word came that another had 
died; and on the 9th I was on my way back in a cart to the city, 
which I reached after a five hours painful jolting. The young Ela- 
phuri were being fed on milk and bran accompanied with fresh-cut 
grass; two of the three survivors were suffering from diarrhcea, 
and a third died. I was in despair, as the remaining two looked 
sickly, At last I observed how fond the two living Capreoli in the 
legation were of sprigs of the elm that abounded in the grounds, and 
I tried my young charges with that. They enjoyed it and began to 
brighten, and I had no more trouble with them. The elm-branches 
were given to them as daily dessert ; it was the over-feeding on damp 
grass that was killing them. The young Llaphuri came into our 
hands when they were about six weeks old. They had a very calf- 
like look, and were very unsteady on their legs. Their tails were 
not, as in the adult, merely tasselled at the end like a Donkey’s, but 
were covered with hair uniformly bushy throughout, Their coats were 
