673 
observed in the Vicinity of Wei Hai Wei. 
time family-parties, of six to nine, are often to be met with, 
but in September flocks of as many as thirty individuals are 
to be seen. It is possible that some of the birds forming 
these large parties wander in from districts other than those 
in which the flocks are seen. 
Probably nearly all the Magpies about Wei Hai Wei 
are resident in Shantung. The Chinese there regard the 
Magpie as a lucky bird, but although they will not readily 
kill one themselves, they do not object to a foreigner doing 
so, and they have no scruples about taking the eggs. 
This bird builds, in Shantung, precisely the same kind of 
nest as it does in Europe, but the majority of eggs are laid 
in May. The earliest date for eggs is May 6th and the 
latest June 1st. The usual clutch is four or five, and more 
than seven have not been found. 
As Magpies are not persecuted in China, they naturally 
become very tame, and nests are often to be met with in 
quite low trees. 
The olive-green coloured eggs, so common at Hong Kong, 
were not met with at Wei Hai Wei, where they are of a 
bluish green. Twenty-four eggs from Shi Tao average 
1*38 x *95 inch, and vary in length from 1*46 to 1'22 and in 
width from P02 to *92. 
Cypselus pacificus. 
The Pacific Swift is a very abundant species about Wei Hai 
Wei during the summer months. In habits these birds some¬ 
what resemble Cypselus apus, but they are less crepuscular 
and are much more addicted to the tops of mountains, rocky 
islets, and other places far removed from human habitations. 
Pacific Swifts may be seen at Leu Kung Tao on a summer 
evening, flying in very large numbers about the highest 
points of the island, hawking for prey, but without very 
much screaming. 
The only breeding-place found was at White Rock, where 
a small colony was striving to maintain itself, in spite of the 
existence on the islet of innumerable hungry rats. The 
sites of many old nests were found with broken eggs and 
