98 DEEE-SHOOTING A.ND OTHER MATTERS. 



a very nasty wound. The colour of the Nigou is a 

 brownish slate ; the older they get, the lighter coloured 

 they become. Until I actually had one in my hands, I 

 was unable to decide whether they had a beard or not, 

 and was pleased to find they do not possess this orna- 

 ment — therefore they are true antelopes, and not goats. 

 The birds of Japan are more interesting than the 

 quadrupeds. In the first place, there is a far greater 

 variety, and many are so nearly allied to our own, whilst 

 others are also so nearly connected with those found in 

 India, that very little difference, and sometimes none, 

 can be detected. A few of those which are, I believe, 

 identical with the British bird of the same species, 

 I will note, mentioning how sometimes they do in some 

 way or another differ. To begin with the beautiful 

 white-tailed white-headed eagle.^ This bird is exceed- 

 ingly common in the north. Stray birds are found in 

 the south, but I never saw a single mature specimen. 

 The natives believe they get the white tail the second 

 year, and the white head the third. I have frequently 

 seen them with the white tail only, but never with 

 the head only white, which con-oborates the Japanese 

 opinion. The osprey is common throughout the whole 

 of Nipon, and breeds on the pinnacle rocks and in the 



1 See sketch of this binl, p. 7. 



