THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CHINA 13 



abundant that the student of nature need never be at a 

 loss, unless it be through an embarras de richesse. 



I have heard it stated that there are some twelve 

 hundred descriptions of birds from China, Whether this be 

 the case or not, it is probably not very wide of the mark to 

 set the number of distinct forms known to occur in the 

 country at well over six hundred. In a list of birds that 

 are known to cccur in Manchuria and the neighbouring 

 region which I have prepared with the help of various 

 experts there are some five hundred forms. Most of these 

 occur at least in some part of China proper, and it is certain 

 that the indigenous birds of the more westerly regions must 

 number considerably over a hundred more. 



The avi-fauna of China may be characterized as typi- 

 cally palaearctic with a strong intrusion of oriental species 

 in the southern parts of the country. At the same time 

 the palaearctic element may be further described as being 

 Tartarian in its affinities in the north and north-west, and 

 Bimalayan in the highlands of the west and central areas. 

 The importance of this Himalayan intrusion should not be 

 overlooked, for it will often explain the remarkable occurr- 

 ence of some species in an unexpected area. Botanists tell 

 us that in the higher parts of this country the flora is often 

 distinctly Himalayan, and this is to be explained by the 

 fact that the Tsing Ling and other high mountain ranges of 

 Centra] and West China are apparently offshoots of the great 

 Himalayan massif. We thus find that faunistic areas or 

 zones occur in a perpendicular direction as well as a horizon- 

 tal one, a fact first pointed out, I think it was, by Elwes, 

 an ornithologist of considerable repute in England. 



As regards migrant species in China it may be pointed 

 out that the country receives influxes of birds from India 

 as well as the islands of the Indian-Pacific Oceans. Species 

 that winter in the Philippines, for instance, are commonly 

 ml breeding in the mountains of North China. The 

 whole of the China coast during the migration season forms 

 an immense highway for transient visitors, which are on 

 their way to Siberia to breed, and it is due to this fact that 

 we know as much as we do about the number and kinds of 

 birds that, pass through China, It has been possible for 

 who have been employed either in some European 

 firm at the coast or in the Customs Service to devote their 

 spare time to this fascinating subject, usually with very 

 valuable results. 



It is impossible here to- go into details concerning the 

 various families, genera, and species of birds to be met with 



