8272 



Birds. 



to Japan. Their paucity induces me to believe that there is here a 

 fine field of discovery open to any persevering ornithologist who may 

 feel inclined to make a sojourn among the islands of this interesting 

 group. In fact, I consider the Ornithology of Japan to be very imper- 

 fectly worked up. Siebold's specimens are all from the south, and 

 probably most from Kiusu (the island on which Nagasaki is situated), 

 while the fact of his having obtained them all, or nearly all, from the 

 natives accounts for the want of information concerning habits and 

 habitats in the 'Fauna Japonica,' otherwise so fine a production. All 

 that is known of the Ornithology of Northern Japan specially is from 

 the Expedition of Commodore Perry, already mentioned (most of the 

 birds in which collection were obtained at Hakodadi), and from the 

 later collections made by Mr. Maximovitch and myself. Mr. Maxim- 

 ovitch is a naturalist, but better known perhaps as a botanist, in the 

 employ of the Russian Government, who, having been in Siberia and 

 on the Amoor, was at Hakodadi during my stay there. His residence 

 was of much longer duration than my own, and, as will be observed, 

 the existence of many species is given entirely on his authority. I 

 have, however, taken care to note when the fact is doubtful, because 

 his only means of naming specimens at the time was by referring to 

 a copy of the ' Fauna Japonica,' in the possession of the Russian 

 Consul. Besides, most of his birds were packed up for going to St. 

 Petersburg when I made his acquaintance, and consequently I had 

 not an opportunity of examimining them. He will publish the results 

 of his labours on his return to Russia. 



Hakodadi is situated at the southern extremity of Yesso, the north- 

 ernmost island of the Japan group, on a small mountain peninsula 

 jutting into the Strait of Tsugar, and is connected with the mainland 

 by a narrow sandy isthmus, on the eastern shore of which break the 

 rollers from the broad Pacific, while it forms a fine land-locked bay 

 and shelters a convenient harbour on the other. The peninsula is a 

 mountain rising 1100 feet above the sea, and is called Hakodadi 

 Head. On three sides its slopes are precipitous, and an iron-bound 

 coast gives it such natural strength that it might, with little labour, 

 be converted into a Gibraltar; in fact, most visitors are struck with 

 the natural similarity of the place, on a small scale, to the gate of the 

 Mediterranean. On the northern side is the town, the present seat of 

 the Government of the island of Yesso, and the residence of the Con- 

 suls of Russia, England and America, and of a few merchants of the 

 two latter countries. It is small, but rapidly increasing in mercantile 

 importance. The readers of this magazine will not care to know much 



