4 COMMON BIRDS OF THE YANGTZE DELTA. 



and is rather difficult to find. The Chinese name for him 

 is te tsong. 



The silver-throated tit or long-tailed tit (Aegithalus 

 glaucogularis) is even smaller — in fact the smallest of our 

 common birds. He is a frowsy looking little chap with loose 

 fluffy greyish plumage, and a silvery grey patch under his 

 throat from which he is named. He has no black underneath,^ 

 but his wings and very long tail are dull black marked with 

 white. Small "flocks are seen oftenest in winter — frequently 

 with the lesser tit searching the trees for food, all th& 

 while uttering at intervals their peculiar little grating calL 

 The nest is one of the most beautiful I have seen — an oval ball 

 of mosses and lichens bound together with cobwebs and 

 lined with the softest feathers, the entrance near the top. 

 Usually it is suspended from the outer branches of a cedar 

 or spruce tree. 



Another rather close kinsman of the true tits is the 

 brown crow tit or Webb's crow tit (Suthora webbiana), 

 perhaps most familiar to us by his Chinese name wonff 

 deii. This bird occasionally comes around the shrubs in 

 our yards in the spring, but is most readily found in the dry 

 reed beds over the country. The head, neck, and upper back 

 are reddish brown, the rest of the body greyish brown. The 

 Chinese are fond of caging this bird, and although he is so 

 small they find great amusement in fighting the males in 

 cages constructed for the purpose. Their short thick heavy 

 bill makes a very effective weapon, and it is not uncommon 

 for one to crush the leg bones of his opponent by a single grip. 



We naturally associate with the crow tit another little 

 bird which the Chinese are found of caging— the silver eye> 

 or as the Chinese call it, sieu ngah (Zosterops simplex)^ 

 though his affinities lie rather with the thrushes than with the 

 tits. His general colour is olive tinged yellow above, shading 

 to grey below. He has a distinctive white circle around each 

 eye, from which he takes his name both in English anP 

 Chinese. His forehead and throat are tinged golden yellow. 

 The silver eye is considered the most genteel of all the cage 

 birds, and is a fit pet for the most elegant gentleman. The 

 crow tit on the other hand is the pet of the " sports"— another 

 case where the favourite Chinese distinction between the 

 ven and the vti- would apply. 



Two big brown thrushes will claim our attention. The 

 Chinese wo-wt or brown laughing thrush {Trocalopteron 

 canonim) is seen m cages everywhere. In the wild it is 

 quite common on the hills, and sometimes comes down to 

 the plains. This bird is a warm cinnamon brown colour 

 with a distinct white eyebrow to which its Chinese name 

 refers. The wo-mi has the most varied song of iny of the 



