SMALL GAME 8l 



sluggishness of its flight. 



It is a large bird of a very dark greenish 

 bluish colour, almost black, and often 

 attains a weight of lo lbs. Throughout 

 the winter it is common enough in the 

 Yellow river and Yangtze valleys as attested 

 by its abundance in the markets. Formerly 

 it was rather despised as a table bird, but of 

 late years it has become, if not fashionable, 

 at least more appreciated. Its flesh is dark, 

 but very palatable when the bird has been 

 hung for some time. 



It is now some years since the foreign 

 sportsman has accounted for any success 

 when after them, while the best record dates 

 from 1880, when five birds averaging about 

 9 lbs weight fell to double shots from a 

 brace of guns. 



The above list by no means exhausts 

 the category of birds that fall to the gun in 

 China. To enumerate but a few more, 

 there are the sandpipers, the stints, the 

 curlews, godwits and whimbrels, all 

 belonging to the great family of Scolopa- 

 cidae : the grey and golden plovers and the 

 lapwings of the family of the charadridae, 

 and the pigeons, the big bluish description 



