SPORT IN WESTERN CHINA 107 



to submit to readers much first-hand information relative to 

 this subject. 



Mr. OHver G. Ready in his Life and Sport in China, and Mr. 

 H. T. Wade in his With Boat and Gun in the Yangtsze Valley, 

 with other writers, have given accounts of the game-fauna 

 found in the more accessible parts of eastern China, but I am 

 unacquainted with any work giving a general, descriptive 

 account of the game animals and birds of the mountainous 

 parts of central and Western China. In The Middle Kingdom, 

 by S. Wells Williams, a brief notice of the fauna of China is 

 given, but this was written long ago, and is based largely upon 

 Chinese evidence and hearsay, and in consequence cannot be 

 regarded as either complete or accurate. Unfortunately in 

 the new edition of this work, published in 1900, very little 

 revision of the chapter dealing with the fauna was attempted, 

 and not much new matter was added. 



Since the subject under discussion is a large and compre- 

 hensive one, it is simplest, perhaps, to divide it into two dis- 

 tinct parts, one dealing with the birds and the other with the 

 mammals. 



BIRDS 



There is a great variety of game birds and wild-fowl found 

 all over China ; moreover, this land is the headquarters of the 

 Pheasant family. This latter fact is alone sufficient to make 

 China of particular interest to all sportsmen, even had she no 

 other attraction to offer. A Chinese Pheasant, commonly 

 called the " Chinese Ring-neck " {Phasianus torquatus in the 

 widest sense), was, as the world of sport well knows, long ago 

 introduced into Europe and crossed with the native bird. To- 

 day practically all the Pheasants bred in England for 

 purposes of sport have more or less of this Chinese blood in 

 them. The Mongolian Pheasant (P. mongolicus), a hardier 

 bird, with lighter plumage in the female and young birds, 

 is now being commonly bred for shooting purposes. In the 

 United States of America the same obtains, but to a much 

 more limited extent. Other Chinese Pheasants such as the 

 " Reeves," " Golden," " Amherst," " Tragopan," etc., have 



