THE FLYING AND GROUND GAME OF THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 25 



Snipe shooting has not been inaptly termed the fly fishing of the shot gun. 

 No. 9 shot will answer every purpose in this kind of shooting. 



THE MIGRATORY SNIPES. 



The Great Spring Snipe {Gallinago megala. ) 

 The Pintailed Snipe {Gallinago stenura.) 



The great spring snipe or Swinhoe's snipe is the larger of the migratory snipes and 

 may easily be recognized by its great size, its comparatively short but thick bill, and its 20 

 tail feathers, 8 broad central plumes and 12 comparatively stiff narrow feathers, 6 on either 

 side of the central fan. 



Its weight runs from 6 to 7 ounces, occasionally more, and some of the largest well 

 nourished birds might easily be mistaken for woodcock by the casual observer. 



The pintailed snipe averages an ounce less in weight than the Swinhoe, and is of a 

 lighter build generally. The tail feathers are 26 in number : 10 comparatively broad plumes 

 forming the central fan, and 16 very narrow, very stiff, pinlike feathers flanking it, 8 on 

 either side. 



These migratory snipes arrive in bulk from the South from about 15th April to 20th 

 May, and then pass on Northward to their breeding grounds, whence they return during the 

 month from 15th August to 15th September. 



Locally they may be looked for at Woosung, Kajow, Sakong, Bingoo district, the 

 banks of the Soochow Creek between Wong-doo and Quinsan, in the bean and rape fields 

 between Taitsan and Quinsan, the waste land to the South of Soochow, and all along the 

 Grand Canal. Further afield, Chinkiang, Wuhu, Kiukiang and Hankow, all on the Yangtze 

 are all great snipe resorts. The migratory is not so particular as to the direction of the 

 wind as is the winter bird, and over a well broken spaniel or steady old pottering German 

 pointer affords the most fascinating shooting. On an early May morning the field may be 

 taken at 6 o'clock but the shelter of the houseboat will often be sought in the course of 

 the day, as the heat at times is very great. But the best shooting time is just that which 

 preludes twilight. 



Snipes are great feeders, in fact great gorgers, and put on flesh and fat very quickly, 

 and no uncommon sight is the fat which bursts through the skin when the bird falls to the 

 ground. Hard indeed to beat as a table delicacy is a plump, freshly shot spring snipe, 

 cooked just to that point when the "juice " will show itself on the insertion of the fork. 



No. 8 shot will be found to be as suitable a size as any. 



The Wild Turkey {Otis tarda) 



This bird classically so termed from the slowness of its flight is found on the 

 numerous islands in the estuary of the Yangtze and along the foreshore of the river itself, 

 sometimes in great numbers and always in winter. It is a big, heavy, upstanding bird of 

 bluish black plumage with many of the domestic turkey characteristics and may weigh 

 from 8 to 12 lbs. Strange to say that but very few of these birds have ever been shot by 

 foreigners, though the market at times is very liberally supplied with them, when they may 

 be bought for 50 cents to 75 cents apiece. 



