NORFOLK BUSTARD 55 



then found more feathers but had seen a good many 

 foot-prints which could only have been those of that bird. 



I saw several men at work in the fen, and gathered 

 from them that they had several times seen a ' ; Wild 

 Turkey ' (as they called it) : according to one man's 

 account, it had been there from shortly after Christmas 

 until the last few days, but another man who said he 

 thought he had seen it before any one else, was of opinion 

 that the time it had haunted the fen was not more than 

 three weeks. However, in the main points they all 

 agreed, and leave one to entertain no doubt but that for 

 some weeks a Great Bustard had frequented that locality. 

 They were very accurate in their description of the bird ; 

 one man compared the markings on the back and wings 

 to a viper, saying that " it was dappled like a snake " ; 

 another said it "made a wonderful roarin' with its wings" 

 when it flew over. 



I was there on Thursday, the 6th inst., and on the 

 preceding Saturday it had been shot at by a gunner, 

 but only with a common hand-gun, and as the bird was 

 more than 100 yards off, it doubtless escaped unhurt. 

 I was unable to make out satisfactorily whether it had 

 been seen since that day, but I am inclined to think that 

 it took the gunner's hint and departed. Since then I 

 have heard nothing new, though my brother who has 

 been at Cambridge until within the last day or two, has 

 made unceasing inquiries. I therefore sincerely hope 

 that it has altogether escaped and that it will not in 

 consequence help to fill the blood-stained pages of the 

 Natural History Magazines.* 



Twenty years later, in the company of Mr. J. E. 

 Harting and others, he had the good fortune to see a 

 Bustard alive in England. Mr. Harting writes : 



A brief mention should be made of the pleasure we 

 both experienced in seeing a real wild Bustard in a 

 Norfolk fen. In Feb. 1876, Mr. H. M. Upcher, of 



* Letter to T. Southwell, March 14, 1856. 



