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Show 432 MR. R. SWINHOE ON CHINESE Z O O L O G Y . [June 9 west of the city), others further westward. The diplomatic corps of the various nations, and even the missionaries, all retreat, the junior members of the legations taking it in turns to reside in town to report on occurrences and to keep up communications. Thus by the end of June the members of the British legation had migrated to their summer habitat; and I was glad to avail myself of an invitation to follow. The temple I visited on this occasion was the Black- Dragon Temple, over the first range of hills to the left of the gardens of the Summer Palace, and about twenty miles from the legation in Peking. The Black Dragon is the deity the Chinese appeal to on occasions of great drought; and such an occasion had occurred before my arrival in Peking. The mandarins were in great trouble because the heavens proved obstinate. They prohibited the slaughter of animals for food and tried every form of prayer, but in vain. At last one of the wise men suggested that the ancient manner of appeasing the wrath of the Black Dragon was to offer him a Tiger's skull. Peking was searched for the article ; but the medicine shops had it only in the form of powdered drug. The Inspector-General of Customs asked if a Tiger's skin would do as well, as he had one which he would sacrifice for the purpose. Nothing but a skull was acceptable. At last one was secured, and with great ceremony carried to the temple and sunk in the pretty pool overshadowed by trees within its walls. In the evening clouds began to gather, and the next day there were copious and refreshening showers. I was in hopes of finding this skull, as I was very anxious to get a skull of tbe northern Tiger in order to determine whether it be the same species as that of Bengal; but some one had been before me, the skull was gone. On our way outside theTihshing Men, or " Gate of Victory" (the gate the British troops occupied in 1860), we came upon a large patch of reeds and rushes with its noisy inhabitants. They consisted of two species of reed-birds-the Calamoherpe aedon (Pall.), and a smaller bird something like our Reed-wren. The latter was very abundant, chattering in all directions ; but it was not easy among the reeds to procure specimens. I shot a female; and, judging from her bare belly aud worn appearance, she must just have left the nest. The male hopped down a rush to look at her ; and several others appeared, to learn the cause of the disturbance. Before I had reloaded they had all retired again. I had not more time to devote to them. The specimen procured is a Reed-wren allied to Calamoherpe arundinacea, Gmel., and C. dumetorum, Blyth, in colour, but may at once be distinguished from the former by the band of dingy cream-colour that crosses the loral space extending from the nostril to the eye,-and from the latter by its white throat and breast; it has a thicker bill, shorter wing with longer first piimary and different proportions of the other primaries, more graduated tail, and paler legs. I will introduce it as the CALAMOHERPE CONCINENS, sp. nov. Upper parts olive-brown ; lore cream-white ; cheeks and sides of |