336 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Yarrell above mentioned will be found a detailed 

 catalogue of the occurrences of the Bustard in 

 England, and one in Orkney, up to the winter of 

 1879-80. The principal breeding-haunts of the 

 species within the geographical limits of Europe at 

 the present day appear to be the steppes of Southern 

 Russia, Hungary, the lower Danubian provinces, the 

 fiat corn-growing lands of certain parts of Eastern 

 Germany, and last, not least, the plains of Central 

 and Southern Spain. My own acquaintance with 

 the Bustard in a wild state is exclusively confined to 

 the last-named country, and as I consider that 

 particulars concerning a bird that is now virtually 

 " a thing of the past " in this country must possess a 

 certain interest to ornithologists, I will detail some 

 of my experiences on the subject. 



In Spain the Great Bustard cannot be looked upon 

 as a migrant in the sense of regular periodical arrival 

 and departure from the country, but the birds that 

 have passed the summer and bred on the high 

 plateaux of the central provinces are often forced by 

 stress of weather and consequent scarcity of food to 

 cross the Sierra Morena, to join their brethren in the 

 sunny plains of Andalucia. I have never been in 

 Southern Spain in " dead " winter, but can vouch for 

 the fact that Bustards are to be found within sight of 

 the Giralda of Seville from the beginning of February 

 till September, and have good grounds for my belief 

 that they are never wanting in that locality. At the 

 first date above mentioned flocks of these birds, 

 varying in number from eight or ten to sixty or 

 more, are to be seen on all the pasture and corn 

 lands of the district above mentioned, especially on 

 the proper right of the Guadalquivir a few miles 



