SMALL GAME 75 



eround. It arrives in almost countless 

 numbers in north China towards the end of 

 the month of February, particularly on the 

 margins of such food supplying- waters as 

 the Si Tai, Tai Flu, Tai Nan Hu, Poyang 

 and Tungting lakes. 



Of the three descriptions of snipes 

 known as Lathams (Gallinago Australis), 

 the solitary snipe (Gallinago solitaria ) and 

 the diminutive Jack snipe (Gallinago 

 gallinula ), being so infrequently come 

 across, it is scarcely necessary to make other 

 than mere mention. Naturally the snipes 

 which have most attraction for the sports- 

 man, whether he be in the Malay Peninsula 

 or China, are the two large sized migratory 

 species known as Swinhoes' or the big 

 spring snipe, and the pin-tailed or lesser 

 spring snipe. 



Swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala) is the 

 larger of the migratory snipes, and may 

 easily be recognised by its great size, its 

 comparatively thick short bill, and its tail 

 feathers which number twenty in all, that 

 is, eight broad central and twelve compar- 

 atively narrow feathers, six on each side of 

 the central fan. Its weight runs from 5 to 



