SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 
while the new sub-species were a sulphur-bellied 
rat (Epymys confucianus luticolor), a large hamster 
rat (Cricetulus triton incanus), and a hare (Lepus 
swinhoet subluteus). The kindred forms of the 
last three species are found in the Shantung 
Peninsula and in Chihli. 
The abundance of game and small mammals 
round Yen-an-Fu is undoubtedly due to the 
extensive thickets of wild jujube in the vicinity. 
This plant, wherever it occurs, forms excellent 
cover for pheasants, hares, small mammals and 
birds. It grows usually in the form of low shrubs, 
and is thiekly covered with strong sharp thorns, 
some of which are straight, and others hooked. 
The result is that large animals and human beings 
experience great difficulty and inconvenience in 
traversing thickets of this growth. The fruit, 
which has a pleasant sour taste, together with 
the hard stony kernels, forms a regular part of 
the autumn and winter diet of the smaller mammals 
and birds. One of the characteristics of this 
peculiar plant is that it never grows at an altitude 
exceeding 3,000 ft. above sea level, and another 
is that it comes into leaf long after all other plants 
in the same districts in which it grows. 
We were told by the natives that there were 
some very good collecting grounds about ten miles 
south-west of Yen-an Fu. Accordingly we packed 
our traps and visited the spot. We were rewarded 
by finding excellent country, both for shooting 
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