THE FLYING AND GROUND GAME OF THE YANGTZE VALLEY 23 



A dry autumn would appear to retard their coming. A few birds may remain and breed 

 here, for cock have been shot in this neighbourhood in May. And a fact not to be lost 

 sight of as regards the woodcock is that it has an instinct in common with the snipe, the 

 undeniable persistency with which yearly and regularly it seeks its old and favourite 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 and quite contiguous shelters. 

 It is the easiest bird in the world to shoot when forced into, or sprung from, the open, but 

 given the umbrage of a friendly copse and the longbill twists his way amongst the trees in 

 comparative ,safety. The woodcock runs from lO to 14 ounces in weight: the female 

 ordinarily weighing the heavier. Small as is generally the sportsman's luck the local 

 markets are usually fairly well supplied, and surprising sometimes 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 Chientang river, when a flight has come under the observation of 

 the keen native market shooter. 50 or 100 birds is no uncommon result of a couple of 

 days' and nights' work. Unfortunately when cock are bagged in great mumbers it generally 

 occurs in warm weather with the consequence that the birds for supposed preservation are 

 cast indiscriminately into the filthy native ice chest. The result is only too easily imaginable. 



Of late years the greatest number of birds have been found in the Chinkiang and 

 Wuhu districts, and not a few on the Langshan on the estuary of the river, about 65 miles 

 from Shanghai. Locally when birds are about they may generally be come across round 

 Taitsan, near Shanghai, at Kashing, Haie and Hangchow and the whole length of the 

 northern margin of the Hangchow Bay. In the silk districts, the little knobs of trees which 

 seem to spring out of that evergreen undergrowth to be found at the junction of any of the 

 innumerable creeks, are sure " homes " of woodcock. 



Incidentally it may be mentioned that although the woodcock's thigh is in the opinion 

 of the Gourmet the morceau of the bird a strong, indigestible sinew runs through it. This 

 may easily be removed if the leg of the freshly shot bird be broken at the " Elbow " and 

 twisted round and round. This twisting, without pulling force, will completely withdraw 

 the objectionable sinew. 



No shooting is more delightful than that of woodcock over a close ranging, sensible 

 spaniel. The shot generally used is No. 8, and it is quite large enough. 



QUAIL SHOOTING. 

 The Quail {Coturnix Communis.) 



This dainty bird, for it is one of the choicest of table luxuries, was once fairly common 

 throughout the Yangtze Valley, and for some years was really prolific on the islands in the 

 reaches of the river, but the days have long since gone when "a cloud of quails in 

 rising tumult soared." Though always a favourite on the table it seems to have been a bird 

 that never had any special attraction for the sportsman who in these present days of its 

 comparative scarcity must often brood over his many lost opportunities. These birds are 

 usually found singly or in small companies of 3 or 4, never in the large coveys as of old. 

 They are essentially running birds, and only take to flight when suddenly surprised or 

 driven to the extremity of the cover, when they offer, as a rule, comparatively easy shots, as 



