156 MR. YARRELL ON THE HABITS AND 



this was before the hens came, which may perhaps account for this bird being two pounds 

 heavier than any I shot afterwards. The largest bird, from tip to tip of wing, measured 

 7 feet 3 inches ; this bird weighed 26 lbs. The 28 lbs. bird measured but 7 feet 1 inch. 



" The birds of a year old weigh from 8 to 10 lbs., and are much the best to eat. I did 

 not shoot a hen. 



" All the birds I shot had their stomachs perfectly crammed with barley, both stalks 

 and ears, the leaves of a large-leaved green weed, and a kind of black beetle. The pouch 

 is surrounded by a layer of fat fully an inch thick. I may add that the bustards when 

 flushed generally fly two miles or more, sometimes at least a hundred yards high. They 

 never try to run ; one that I had winged making the most awkward attempt possible to 

 get away from me, and though a young bird, showing much more disposition to fight than 

 to get away by running. They fly with a regular flap of the wings, and much faster than 

 they appear to go. I cannot imagine greyhounds being able to catch bustards, though 

 there seems to be good authority for believing they did. There were a great many Little 

 Bustards about also, but I never followed them, as I liked the large ones better." 



To my friend John "Wolley, Jun., a good ornithologist, who had been in Spain and North 

 Africa, I wrote in reference to the Great Bustard, and was immediately favoured with the 

 following answer : — 



" My very little acquaintance with North Africa does not extend beyond the neighbour- 

 hood of Tangier, and there I did not see the Great Bustard, nor have I received its eggs 

 from that quarter in the several packets which have been forwarded to me; but this 

 proves nothing ; it only renders it probable that this bird is not common in the immediate 

 vicinity of that town. 



" Of Spain I have almost equally little to say. One day, about the month of Septem- 

 ber, going up the Guadalquivir in a steam-boat to Seville, I saw several flocks of the Great 

 Bustard at no great distance from the river banks, on the level, and at that time of the 

 year burnt up, plains which extend, almost without trees or enclosure, on each side of the 

 Guadalquivir. These flocks consisted, as I remember, of four or five birds each ; and from 

 the deck of the vessel, which was almost on a level with the land, they appeared to be 

 walking in file, some with their heads down, and reminding one of Gilbert "White's note, 

 ( Bustards upon the downs look like deer in the distance.' This appearance of walking in 

 a row was probably deceptive. There was nothing in their manner to give the impression 

 that they were timid, or very cautious, but one at least of a party frequently had its head 

 raised as the steamer passed at a few hundred yards' distance, and with the help of my 

 glass I thought this was generally a cock bird. On one occasion, as the boat came sud- 

 denly round a corner, several of them rose together from the edge of the water, springing 

 hastily to the height of forty or fifty feet, nearly perpendicularly, partly perhaps to clear 

 the bank, and then turning suddenly and somewhat clumsily, and after a few more not 

 rapid strokes, sailing along with the arched form of wing so general in game birds. 



" I have now told you all I know about the Great Bustard in Spain. I wish I had 

 more to say about it. I was told that the Spanish name was Abutarda, which is, I should 

 imagine, connected in some way with the specific name ' tarda,' for the bird can hardly be 

 called ' slow,' but I do not know who gave it its scientific appellation. On the occasion I 



