6230 



Fauna of Amoy, 



familiarly l<novvn to us [Herodias GarzeUa\ often attract our attention 

 as they wing their way slowly through tl>e obscure blue of a summer 

 twilight, from the fields where they have been feeding, to their 

 selected nest-trees, on which they settle like masses of snow among 

 the dark green leaves. 



The yellow-headed egret, while with us in summer, is commoner, 

 and roams about in larger flocks than the latter. A third and solitary 

 species, Herodias flavirostris, is also found, and may be dislinguished 

 by its yellow bill, and the tuft of snowy feathers which surmounts the 

 occiput. We have, besides, five or six other species of heron, nearly 

 all remarkable for their elegance and beauty. Tlie egret is much 

 admired by the sentimental Chinese, and is often alluded to in 

 poetical compositions by the style Loo-sze ; and the Island of 

 Amoy is often poetically called Loo-mun, Loo-keang, and Loo- 

 taon, from the number of these snow-like birds that annually 

 frequent it. 



Of the ninety-two species of Insessores found here, nine are British 

 birds. Seven species of the Grallatores, and nearly all the Natatores, 

 with the exception of the pelicans, albatrosses, and a few gulls and 

 terns, are identical with those found in Great Britain ; and again, 

 many forms that exist in Europe, though not discoverable here, are 

 represented by very similar and closely-allied forms. 



I think here, for the present, I may close my remarks on the Fauna 

 of Amoy, without proceeding to discuss the Reptilia, Pisces and 

 Insecta, as it would require a person much more thoroughly versed 

 in Natural History than myself to undertake it. 



It is unnecessary to dilate on the beauties and delights of the study 

 of Nature : the heart of every man naturally throbs in the contempla- 

 tion of the Creator's handiwork, and thrills with joy at the discovery 

 of some new" manoeuvre in the wondrous economy which so beauti- 

 fully modulates and arranges all animal and vegetable life upon the 

 globe. Solomon said, " There is nothing new under the sun so, 

 probably, there is not ; but a great deal of what passes around man 

 is new to him, and astonishes him when brought to his notice, simply 

 because he has not made use of those powers of observation that he 

 has been endowed with. 



In conclusion, I cannot do better than quote the words that Milton 

 puts in the mouth of the Divine Author of Nature in his address to 

 our first parent : — 



