SPORT IN WESTERN CHINA iii 



and they drill their way through clothing deep into the flesh, 

 from whence they are not readily extracted. Their power of 

 penetration is truly marvellous. Ordinary cloth, such as 

 serge, flannel, and khaki, is useless against them — they will 

 even penetrate through the leather tongue of a shooting boot ! 

 Stout duck and drill, starched and glazed, are the only kinds 

 of woven material that will resist them, and then only as long 

 as the material remains dry. In this spear-grass country only 

 smooth-haired dogs are useful and capable of facing the 

 cover. In the more mountainous country, three or four days 

 removed from the river, the most useful kind of dog to cover 

 the country is probably the Spaniel. 



In the mountains of south-western Szechuan west of the 

 Min River Valley and as far north as lat. 31° N. the common 

 Pheasant is Anderson's [Phasianus elegans). This lovely bird 

 differs from Holderer's Pheasant in having a dark green 

 instead of purple breast and terra-cotta instead of dull yellow 

 sides ; the rump more pronounced slaty-grey with green 

 reflections ; the tail is shorter, and the bird, which averages 

 29 to 30 inches tip to tip, is smaller in all its parts. The 

 average weight of full-grown cocks is 2^- lbs. An imaginary 

 line connecting Kuan Hsien and Tachienlu roughly marks 

 its northern range ; southwards it extends through western 

 Yunnan to the borders of Burmah. Its altitudinal range is 

 from 2500 feet up to 10,000 feet, or even higher where cultiva- 

 tion obtains. Around Tachienlu, at alt. 8000 to 9500 feet, 

 this Pheasant is quite common, and I have here seen in mid- 

 July little chicks only a few days old. Around Wa shan this 

 bird is fairly common, but from all accounts it is much more 

 abundant in Yunnan. The habitat of this Pheasant is similar 

 to that of Holderer's kind, and it affords similar sport. 



Around Srmgpan, in the north-west corner of Szechuan, 

 occurs in quantity a Pheasant which closely resembles 

 Anderson's, but is even smaller and rather different in colour. 

 It may be a local form of this species. The predominant colour 

 is a rich dark coppery bronze with dark green chest and breast, 

 some feathers of the wing and rump are slate coloured ; head and 

 neck very dark purplish-green, shading to black on the throat ; 

 length, 28 to 30 inches, tip to tip ; average weight, 2| lbs. 



