48 On the GuadaJquiver. 



We went on again, and at length found four other 

 bustards in a more advantageous position for a drive. 

 We hid in a deep ditch, and had the advantage of being 

 able to keep the birds in view the whole time. Our men 

 took a wide circuit, and getting well behind the bustards, 

 closed up quickly. The birds seemed to be very drowsy as 

 they squatted or walked about, but suddenly their heads 

 went up, and as they saw the horsemen advancing they 

 ran a few yards, and then quickly got on the wing. They 

 had looked brown before, but directly they opened their 

 wings, a whitish patch caught the eye, and as they came 

 on with heads outstretched, they looked more like heavy 

 storks than anything we had ever seen. The four birds 

 flew seemingly slowly, but in reality at a great pace, and 

 steered straight for my friend, who fired at the largest as 

 it passed over his head. Down came the great bird an 

 awful crash behind him. We ran up to it and found that 

 it was a young male, perhaps a year old, weighing about 

 fifteen pounds (old males sometimes scale over thirty 

 pounds), and wanting the beautiful "whiskers" which 

 adorn the full-grown male. It was only winged, but made 

 no attempt to run away, and when we approached, it 

 pecked at us, and uttered a hissing sort of bark. 



We spent another day after bustard, far from the river, 

 in a country studded with small round-topped lulls, covered 

 at the time of our visit with clover and stubble. Bustards 

 seemed plentiful here, and we ^oon found a party of 

 thirteen and another of four. We lay flat in the stubble 

 on the slopes of the hills, while the men rode round to drive 

 the birds. But the drive was not successful, and owing 

 to the long flight taken by the bustards, and the nature 

 of the ground, it was impossible to mark them down. 



Our last experience with bustards was late in May. 



