Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/254

230 spring flight of the feathered tribe. The mornings and evenings were almost as still and silent as in midwinter; the call of the widgeon, the cackle of geese, the cry of the sea-gull, or the noise of the duck were indeed rare sounds, and had it not been for the loud notes of the great lark (Melanocorypha maxima), the shores of Koko-nor had been indeed voiceless.

Spring fell far short of our expectations, and birds were not nearly so numerous as they were on Dalai-nor at the same season, two years ago. In all probability they leave Koko-nor to one side in their flight northwards, keeping to the valley of the Hoang-ho and to China Proper, and avoiding the Kan-su mountains and the deserts of Ala-shan. In proof of this, I may mention that we found many kinds of waterfowl in the northern bend of the Hoang-ho which we never saw at Koko-nor: such as Anser cygnoides, A. segetum, Anas falcata, Ardea cinerea, Fulica atra, and others.

The dearth of birds induced us to abandon our intention of remaining on the shores of the lake until the end of April; so on the 13th we broke up our camp and marched towards the temple of Chobsen by the same road that we had travelled in autumn. We might have taken the easier route through Tonkir, but having experienced the unpleasantness of journeying through thickly populated