Cnar. VIL] THEIR FOOD AND HABITS. 113 
knew that the jar must have been turned over or 
smashed to pieces, and that of course all the eels 
which escaped the bills of the cormorants were 
now swimming in the ocean. After this I was 
obliged to feed them upon any thing on board which 
I could find; but when I arrived at Hong-kong 
they were not in very good condition: two of them 
died soon after; and as there was no hope of taking 
the others home alive, I was obliged to kill them 
and preserve their skins. 
The Chinaman from whom I bought these birds 
has a large establishment for fishing and breeding 
the birds about thirty or forty miles from Shanghae, 
and between that town and Chapoo. They sell at 
a high price even amongst the Chinese themselves— 
I believe from six to eight dollars per pair, that is, 
from 30s. to 40s. As I was anxious to learn some- 
thing of their food and habits, Mr. Medhurst, jun., 
interpreter to the British Consulate at Shanghae, 
kindly undertook to put some questions to the man 
who brought them, and sent me the following notes 
connected with this subject :— ae 
“The fish-catching birds eat small fish, y: low 
eels, and pulse-jelly. At 5 p.m. every day each 
bird will eat six taels (eight ounces) of eels or fish, 
and a catty of pulse-jelly. They lay eggs after 
three years, and in the fourth or fifth month. Hens 
are used to incubate the eggs. When about to lay 
their faces turn red, and then a good hen must be 
prepared. The date must be clearly written upon 
the shells of the eggs laid, and they will hatch in 
I 
