Hatching out a Great Bustard 143 
e ] 
and our hopes and fears were so far realized that, after a week, 
careful examination showed that the eggs had not suffered from 
the forty mile journey on horseback, and were ‘‘set.” After 
twenty days, one eventful morning a faint cheep was heard 
from the box and to our great joy we found a young Bustard 
had commenced to chip the shell and was in a fair way to release 
itself, 
EGGS OF GREAT BUSTARD. (Size 3°3 in. x 2°1 in.) 
We passed that forenoon in intense anxiety, being reassured 
from time to time by a more cheerful cheep. In the afternoon 
we both had to go out, but as a matter of precaution installed a 
servant, one of the type known as a ‘steady old soldier ” of 
the long-service days, to mount guard over our precious charge. 
To our horror, on our return we found our old soldier diligently 
at work with a piece of stick removing the shell from one of 
the eggs, while alongside of him lay a mass of broken egg-shell 
and a melancholy-looking and extremely small Great Bustard, 
which he had already extracted from the first egg. 
oo 
