BIRDS. 65 
Fam. GRUIDZE. 
270. Grus communis Zechst. Common Crane. 
Accidental visitant from Northern Europe, of extremely rare 
occurrence. 
York, one shot in 1797 (Fothergill, Orn. Brit., 1799, p. 7). 
271. Grus virgo (Z.). Demoiselle Crane. 
Order 4. LIMICOLA. 
Fam. OTIDZ. 
272. Otis tarda Z. Great Bustard. 
Accidental visitant from Continental Europe, of ex- 
tremely rare occurrence; formerly resident in great 
numbers on the Wolds of Eastern Yorkshire, when in 
their virgin state as undulating barren sheepwalks. 
The precise date of extinction is uncertain, but there is 
reason to believe that the last bird was killed at Reighton 
near Hunmanby, about the year 1830. 
It is much to be regretted that the whole,of the records 
of the existence in Yorkshire of so fine and conspicuous 
a bird should date subsequently to its extinction, and it 
is somewhat remarkable that no allusion to its presence in 
the county should be made by Pennant or other contem- 
porary writers; probably this may be explained by the 
very abundance of the species. Even the records that exist 
are derived from memory, or based upon hearsay state- 
ments. 
The materials available for treating of the past history 
of Yorkshire Bustards consist of—Mr. Arthur Strickland’s 
account given in Allis’s report on Yorkshire Birds, in 1844 ; 
notes by Mr. Henry Woodall, of North Dalton, and Mr. E. 
H. Hebden, of Scarborough, contributed to Morris’ British 
Birds, in 1854; articles in the Zoologist for 1870 (pp. 
2063, 2102, 2103); a letter from Sir Charles Anderson, of 
Lea, to Mr. John Cordeaux, dated Dec. 14, 1874; and 
letters to myself from Mr. Thos. Boynton, of Ulrome, Sir 
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