Fauna of Amoy. 



6227 



piercing glance, and superior size, — who that has once seen can ever 

 mistake the peregrine ? 



A species of sparrowhawk {Accipitei')^ differing principally from 

 that bird in England in having white instead of red axillary coverts, 

 makes an occasional tour in the vicinity. There is also a buzzard 

 {Buteo)y and the hen harrier {Circus cyaneus) of Britain is seen not 

 unfrequently in the early winter. 



The kite, or Bah-heo, pronounced Nai-heo in the Chang-chow 

 district {Milvus Govinda), the scavenger of the harbour, comes next. 

 At all hours of the day he may be seen floating in numbers over the 

 tall masts of the ships, uttering his well-known scream. Some offal 

 on the surface of the water catches his eye ; he descends and bears it 

 away, perhaps pursued by several others, to some favourite rock, 

 where, having driven off his pursuers, he quietly tears and swallows 

 his morsel. An arrant coward, too, is this self-same kite. A crow 

 or a magpie is often seen to attack him when he approaches the 

 vicinity of their nests, and the ignoble bird of prey retreats at once, 

 with piteous cries, at every attack of his assailant offering his hooked 

 claws, but making no further resistance. Among themselves in the 

 breeding-season they fight a good deal, but never come to an earnest 

 set-to; it is always pounce, offer claws, scream, and fly away. Once, 

 by some mismanagement in this mode of fighting, I saw a pair hook 

 claws, and at claws' length spin round and round, not being able to 

 extricate themselves till they reached the ground. They build in 

 great numbers on the precipitate sides of the Pagoda Island, and one 

 pair had the temerity to nestle on the top of the ruins of the half- 

 fallen pagoda, but at the same time had the good sense to place their 

 nest on the side least exposed. I discovered no less than six nests 

 in an evening's stroll on the island ; they were built of twigs, roots, 

 pieces of rag or paper, or in fact any available rubbish, sometimes 

 lined with a few feathers. Their eggs are nearly round, as big as a 

 good-sized hen's egg, and blotched with olive-brown. In an evening 

 at sunset I have counted as many as sixty kites, soaring at different 

 heights over that island. 



An osprey [Pandion) is sometimes seen even in the harbour, but 

 little is known of him. I have seen him strike a fish close under the 

 bows of a vessel, and bear it away in triumph. 



The great owl [Bubo Am-kong-cheaou, I have seen twice, 



but have been assured b}^ the priest of the Nam-p'o-t'o temple, that in 

 rainy seasons he has shot (he sports a foreign gun) several specimens. 

 I reared a young one, and kept him for more than two years; by 



