72



Sydney Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



These birds appeared quite happy and lively though the temperature

was 20 degrees below freezing-point. Here it was impossible to see

anything of the bird life of the country as one was stopped at every

odd corner by the military of one sort or another, who followed a few

yards behind everywhere one went. On the Great Wall, which I was

told was no longer the Great Wall of China but of Manchukuo !, I saw

hundreds of the Common Chinese, or correctly speaking “ Manchukuo ”

Magpies ! These were very tame and seemed to be the only birds

not persecuted by the natives. There were also some Buntings flying

about, but I was unable to distinguish their species.


In the native meat and game shops I was sorry to see many sadly

mangled corpses of that magnificent bird the Siberian Great Bustard

{Otis tarda dybowsJcii). These could be bought for a few dollars or yen

which in both cases is worth Is. 2d. These birds are sold to the Europeans

on the various ships which visit the towns in North China and

Manchukuo as “ Turkeys ”. I also saw in the shops many Black

Storks {Ciconia nigra) and various Duck, also many Sand-Grouse.

In fact strings of frozen Sand-Grouse were brought on board our ship

when we landed at Chinwangtao. I made inquiries about obtaining

live Bustards and Sand-Grouse, but I was told that the birds were

always shot and not taken alive, and also that they were brought from

a long distance, but had I given an order some weeks before my arrival

I might have been able to obtain live ones.


Fortunately I was able, at a later period, to obtain a pair of Pallas’s

Sand-Grouse, and these I brought home with me. Sand-Grouse do

not seem to be well known to aviculturists in this country, though they

are very beautiful with their delicately coloured plumage of pale fawn,

yellow, and various shades of brown. As they are desert birds they

cannot stand damp and wet and need a sanded aviary with a dry shed

and a dust bath. Their tiny feathered feet look more like the paws

of a small mammal than those of a bird, and when running they remind

one of the actions of a mechanical toy. Unfortunately they have

a bad habit of flying straight up when startled and banging their heads

against the top of the aviary. Otherwise they are most attractive

aviary birds.


Unfortunately, owing to illness contracted in North China due



