20 
SARYTSCHEW’fi TRAVELS. 
have probably acquired from them the same propensity, for du¬ 
ring the season of plenty they go to the water’s side in search of 
lish for themselves, and eat the heads only of whatever they 
catch. 
Birds of passage are very numerous here in spring and au¬ 
tumn. At th« close of April and May geese and storks resort to 
the meadows in immense flocks, and the bays are covered with 
ducks of every description. In June they leave these parts, 
and are succeeded by snipes; but in July and August there is 
no other bird to be seen except sea-ducks, called turpane, which 
assemble here in vast quantities. This being their time of 
moulting, they are unable to fly, and fall an easy prey to the 
inhabitants, who surround them in their canoes # , and driving 
them into shallow parts of the water, jump in, and either kill 
or catch them alive in their hands. They then string them by 
means of an iron or bone skewer, on a long cord that hangs 
at their backs, which frequently affords an opportunity for those 
following to'practise a theft on their neighbours, while eager 
in the pursuit, by cutting off their ducks and stringing them to 
their own. 
The Tunguses have a mode of catching these birds by 
means of an artificial hen-duck, which, when stuck on a long 
pole, tipped with a sharp iron, and presented to the males, at¬ 
tracts them all towards it, and brings them within the reach of 
the fowlers. In lakes and standing waters, the ducks are like¬ 
wise caught by snares, two different ways. They have a me¬ 
thod of confining the creatures within a certain space by means 
of twigs, leaving openings only where the snares are fixed, by 
which the ducks are caught when they attempt to get out. 
By another method, they decoy the ducks with the spawn of 
fish into snares that are concealed under water. 
Among the birds which frequent the forests and fields, are 
white-tailed eagles, woodcocks, and partridges. In the winter 
there is a remarkable bird called a water-sparrow, which makes 
its appearance on the open banks of the river. It is the size of 
a thrush, and has a black plumage: but although there is no 
web on its feet, it often dives, and continues some minutes un¬ 
der the water; yet it has not been observed to swim on the sur¬ 
face. There are no common sparrows here ; and the crows are 
perfectly black. The mews are of five different sorts; namely, 
the j- semisashennjaa, the grey and white spotted, the J go- 
woruschka, the || mortyschka, and the rasboinika. The first is 
* This canoe is called odnoderewka, probably from its being constructed 
out of one tree only. 
f Semisftshetmaja, from scm, seven, and sashena , fathom.-J Gowo- 
ruska pvater, from goworit , to speak.——|j Mortyschka sterna } or sea- 
pwftllow,--«j[ Rasboinika , a plunderer. 
