286 BIKDS OF TUNISIA 



approached except by stratagem. A favourite way of getting within 

 gunshot of these birds, when met with singly or in pairs, is by riding 

 round them in gradually diminishing circles. When they are in flocks, 

 however, this is not possible, and " driving" has to be resorted to in 

 order to obtain a shot. The Houbara is a favourite quarry with the 

 Arabs who still practise falconry, and affords good sport. 



In spring, when my visits to the Regency have taken place, I 

 have found this species nearly always in pairs, but it appears to be 

 met with in winter in small flocks. On one occasion, when travelling 

 by rail from Gafsa to Metlaoui, in the month of April, I saw three 

 of these Bastards together. The birds rose from the ground within 

 a short distance of the line, and, far from appearing afraid of the 

 moving train, accompanied it for two or three hundred yards, 

 affording me a capital view of them, as they mounted into the air. 

 It was a particularly fine sight, for the birds, as they ascended fairly 

 high in the air, turned and swerved about a good deal, their flight 

 being more rapid and dashing than it usually is when they are flushed 

 from afar and fly leisurely away within a few feet of the ground. 

 When walking their gait is stately and dignified. 



The species feeds on grain, seeds, and other vegetable-substances 

 as well as on snails, insects and small reptiles. 



It is a very silent bird, and I never heard it utter any cry. 



The Houbara appears to be entirely monogamous, and in April 

 and May deposits its eggs, three in number, on the bare ground, 

 without even making any depression in the soil. The eggs are of a 

 deep olive-green colour, splashed and blotched with greyish shell- 

 marks and brown surface-spots. They measure about 62 x 42 mm. 



The Arabs sometimes snare this Bustard by building up a little 

 wall of small stones round its eggs, and leaving an opening on one 

 side for the bird to walk through, a noose being fixed at this aperture. 

 One of these birds, which had been thus snared, was brought to me 

 by some Arabs near Ain-Moulares, together with its eggs. 



