it3 VtTia BOAt AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VAtLiiV. 



wind to Nanking, where my companion, whose time was nearly up and who despaired of 

 further sport, caught the steamer for Shanghai and left me to do the distance to Wuhu alone. 



It was an interesting journey, but a detailed account would be tedious. Sport became 

 a secondary object and most of the time was devoted to studying the bird-life of the river. 

 The weather improved ; time was no object, so I could travel leisurely and land wherever 

 the country looked inviting. Taken in this way the whole stretch of the river from 

 Chinkiang to Wuhu and further up again to Kiukiang is a paradise for a sportsman who is 

 not merely anxious to kill game. It is seldom that one lands for an hour or two, whether on 

 the cultivated plains, marshes, reed-covered islands, grassy scrub-covered hills, or on bare, 

 desolate-looking wastes without meeting with something in the shape of game. One may 

 seldom make a big bag but something is sure to turn up. At one place it is a snipey bit of 

 swamp, at another lagoons black with duck and teal, now a flock of geese feeding on the 

 stubbles claim attention, and again a company of handsome bustards with plumage resembling 

 the dry, yellow, grassy plains which they frequent tempts one to try a stalk. Pheasants are 

 scattered about almost everywhere and are probably great wanderers, and an occasional 

 deer or hare adds variety to the shooting. The reed-beds are a grand hunting ground for 

 the ornithologist when the reeds have been partially cleared as is the case at this time of 

 year. The lagoons with which they are intersected swarm with wild-fowl. Grebes and 

 gulls, herons, egrets, rails, curlew, plovers and sandpipers haunt the marshy parts, and an 

 occasional solitary black stork may been seen fishing in a shallow pool. Overhead, birds 

 of prey of all kinds may be seen, from the gigantic white-tailed eagle to the little merlin. 

 Common and rough-legged buzzards are among the most conspicuous, but the graceful harriers 

 are even more numerous. Among the reeds themselves live many small birds which are 

 far more valuable to the collector; buntings of several species, a very small mouse-like 

 penduline tit {(Egethalus consobrinus), so small and so unobtrusive that it is a most difficult 

 bird to obtain ; and a very curious bird belonging to the family of paradox-birds or parrot- 

 billed tits. This particular species {Paradoxomis hendei) is apparently only found among the 

 reed-beds of the Yangtze, and I remember my delight at first meeting with it. It is found 

 in flocks and is generally very inconspicuous and given to skulking; but its plaintive 

 whistle may be constantly heard, and by following the sound and waiting patiently it is 

 possible to secure quite a number out of one flock. The body of the bird is about the size 

 of a sparrow's, the bill is parrot-shaped and the tail is long and graduated, the colour a 

 mixture of fawn, buff, black and white. 



But enough has been said to suggest at least the attractions of the district. To those 

 visiting it by houseboat I would offer the advice — land wherever you can. The nature of 

 the country is undergoing perpetual change; the draining of lakes as the river falls, the 

 drying up of marshes, the cutting of reeds and brushwood all involve changes in the 

 character of the sport to be expected. First-rate pheasant shooting may be had at a certain 

 place; a month later not a bird is to be found there; the remaining reeds which made such 

 good cover on the first visit have been cut and the birds have retired several miles back to 

 the hills. In the same way a well known wildfowl swamp may be found dry and deserted. 



In the words of the poet, "you never know your luck," and this element of chance is 

 perhaps among the charms of all sport and of sport in the Yangtze valley in particular. 



