104 deee-shootinCt and othek matters. 



much at home on the branches of big trees as in the 

 water. It is neither wild nor wary, and except for the 

 sake of having a specimen of one's own shooting — or, 

 alas ! for one's own eating ! — it is a pity to kill such a 

 marvellously beautiful creature. The female is of a 

 dull slate colour, with nothing at all remarkable in her 

 plumage, excepting that she has a decided crest, which 

 she can elevate Like the male. The harlequin garrot 

 (Anas histrionica) is very common along the northern 

 shores of Yesso ; I once saw it as far south as Yedo 

 Gulf, in latitude 35°. There were only about six in 

 all; they had probably been driven so far south by 

 hard weather. The male is an exceedingly pretty bird. 

 They evidently breed about Kunishir and the north- 

 eastern coasts of Yesso, as it was in the summer I saw 

 them so constantly and in such numbers. 



The robin (Sylvia ruhicula) I have seen, but only 

 on the mountains. The bull-finch (Pyrrhula orientalis) 

 is common throughout Japan. Although this bird is 

 classified as a different species from our own (P. vulgaris), 

 I consider it the same bird. In habits, note, and 

 plumage there is not the slightest difference, with the 

 single exception that the red in the Japanese bird only 

 extends over the throat, whereas in ours it runs down 

 on to the breast. 



