A Magnificent Spectacle 35 
I have had evidence of this extending over many years. Every one 
of these flocks is known to me as well, as to those few of the 
inhabitants who take any interest in such matters, by the name 
of the district it comes from. Thus 2 miles south-west of where 
I dwell there is a flock of thirteen birds known to us as La 
banda de 
seventeen and again 4 miles to the north, of another and yet 
Again about 4 miles east I know of another of 
another beyond. At times these éandas join up, and one is 
afforded the splendid sight of several score of these magnifi- 
cent birds together. This combined flock on 30 March 1876 
numbered sixty-seven birds, and of recent years I have on several 
occasions seen it at about the same strength and more than once 
at seventy-four ! 
On the roof of my dwelling in Spain I have established a 
look-out whither I often betake myself with telescope and _field- 
glasses. About 1,200 yards from this spot is a slight rise in the 
ground which is usually covered with rich young grasses a few 
weeks before the lower portions of the plain afford much feeding. 
In extent it is only some 4 or 5 acres, but on a fine spring 
morning it is usual to see it tenanted by several Great Bustards ; 
sometimes by both the local éandas of seventeen and _ thirteen 
who unite there and, when disturbed, separate and work their way 
back each to its own particular district. 
To see the Great Bustard in all his glory he should be sought 
in the months of April and May when the vega is covered with 
spring flowers. At places there are great masses of thistles with 
gorgeous heads whilst all around the silver-grey skeletons of last 
year’s growth, calcined by the torrid sun of the summer, stand 
up in stiff sparse clusters. These thistles, whilst affording cover 
from view for the Bustards when taking their siesta at mid-day, 
at times also lead to their undoing, since a few judiciously placed 
often serve to conceal the position of the gunner lying prone 
