78 SHOOTING IN CHIA 



arrive towards the end of October or early 

 in November in the Yangtze valley, and are 

 scattered thinly over the country through- 

 out the v/inter. Some few birds probably 

 remain and breed here, for cock have been 

 shot locally in May. A fact not to be lost 

 sight of as regards woodcock is the undeni- 

 able persistency with which it yearly seeks 

 its old resorts. From the identical corners 

 of identical covers woodcock have been 

 flushed year after year, when not a single 

 bird could be found in equally suggestive 

 contiguous shelters. It is the easiest bird 

 to shoot in the world when forced into the 

 open, but given the umbrage of a friendly 

 copse and the long bill twists its way in 

 comparative safety. In China woodcock 

 run from 12 to 14 ounces in weight, the 

 females generally weighing the heavier. 

 Small as has been the sportsman's luck of 

 late years, the Shanghai market continues 

 to be fairly well supplied, and surprising is 

 the size of the " catch," whether by net or 

 gun, often made on the northern shore of 

 the Hangchow Bay from the Yangtze Cape 

 to the Tsientang river when a flight has 

 been greeted by the keen native market 

 shooter. Fiftv to one hundred birds is no 



