114 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



which give to that part of the country a 

 chess-board-like appearance, the sides of the 

 qtiadilateral being high banks, and the areas 

 grass and grain and reed fields in which 

 geese find abundant food. Sending, to the 

 rear of a large flock of geese feeding, their 

 third gun to startle them, the other two 

 guns of a shooting party concealed by the 

 embankments had a fine time with the 

 driven birds, securing no less than 32 head. 

 This was in December 1901, when in eleven 

 days on the Taiping marsh this same party 

 accounted for 270 head of wildfowl, viz : 

 176 geese, 58 duck, 56 teal. 



With decoys judiciously placed, and 

 shooting from behind ordinary reed blinds, 

 an American sportsman, in February 1896, 

 on Block House Island, in the Yangtze 

 estuary, in ten tides bagged 362 duck, 42 

 geese, and 18 swan. "The swan gave 

 close shots ; 3 fell to as many No. 8 

 cartridges." Since 1900, the best authen- 

 ticated mixed bags are : 



At Kashing, 70 miles W. of Shanghai, 

 for one gun in 9 days, 96 pheasants, n 

 woodcock, 5 hare and 9 partridges. 



At Wuhu, 2 guns, 21^ days shooting, 

 1316 head, made up of 889 pheasants, 27 



