GREAT BUSTARD. 33 



hind toe, with which it might grasp the branch and keep 

 itself there, it has every thing to fear, and the dogs can start 

 it, and even sometimes seize it when it is not far from the 

 ground." It being now so rare in England, it does not 

 appear that any ornithologist has had an opportunity of ob- 

 serving its habits there, so as to present a continuous account 

 of them. I have not so much as seen an individual alive, 

 and therefore all I can do is to compile from the notices 

 given in various works a short history, for the accuracy of 

 which I cannot be held responsible. 



In France and Germany, where Bustards are numerous, 

 they reside on the heaths and plains, as well as in large cul- 

 tivated fields, after the breeding season forming at first small 

 flocks, and afterwards larger. In April they pair and dis- 

 perse, some alleging that they are polygamous, while others 

 merely state that after incubation has commenced the males 

 desert the females. As all seem agreed on this latter point, 

 there can be no truth in the supposition that the gular sac of 

 the male is intended for the purpose of furnishing the female 

 and young, in the breeding season, with water, which, in 

 general, is only to be procured at a distance upon the dry 

 and extended downs they inhabit. Indeed, Bewick states 

 that one which was kept in a caravan never drank. Being 

 extremely timid; they cannot be approached without much 

 pains, but are taken with snares, sometimes by means of 

 dogs and hawks, or shot by persons dressed in the guise of 

 horses or cows. They feed on green vegetable substances, 

 seeds, roots, insects, reptiles, and even small quadrupeds and 

 young birds, using a quantity of pebbles or gravel to aid 

 digestion. The male pays court to the female by strutting 

 and expanding his tail, like a Turkey, and inflating the skin 

 of his throat, which assumes a purple tint. The nest is a 

 hollow in the ground, in an open part, or among corn. The 

 eggs, two in number, are nearly three inches in length, two 

 inches and two-twelfths in breadth, of an ovate-elliptical 

 form, pale olive-brown, blotched with greyish-brown. They 

 are deposited in the end of May or beginning of June, and 

 are hatched in about thirty days. The young, at first covered 

 with greyish-yellow down, spotted above and on the sides 



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