438 THE BIEDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 



About Lake Hanka G. leucauchen is more numerous than any other 

 species of this genus, arriving there in the beginning of March, when the 

 snow is still on the ground and the nights are frosty up to ^(f C The 

 principal migration, however, takes place in the middle of March. Early in 

 April, when the marshes are free from ice, they take up their position in pairs. 

 During the breeding- season the male is very much attached to the female, and 

 often gambols before her on the ground, and goes through all sorts of peculiar 

 evolutions in the air ; sometimes several pairs come together and go through 

 these performances collectively, by jumping up, stooping down, flapping their 

 wings, and bending their heads, &c. 



The first young were taken by me about Hanka on the 19th of May» 



[To BE CONTINUED,] 



