OTIS TARDA TARDA 155 



tion ; a second, full broadside, presents no more difiiculty, and ere 

 the double thuds behind have attested the result, we realize that a 

 third, shying off from our neighbour, is also ' our meat.' " 



The last attempt to reintroduce this grand game-bird into 

 England was in 1900, when the late Mr. Alexander Williams im- 

 ported sixteen birds which were, in the words of the ' Field,' 

 " accorded full measure of care and hospitality on a large estate on 

 the borders of Suffolk, where they received ample protection within 

 the limits of an area of some 50,000 acres, owned by good sportsmen 

 with a friendly interest m natural history." 



In the ' Field ' of the 16th September the unfortunate results 

 of this experiment were thus recorded : — 



"Sad to say, the precautions thus taken proved in vain, for it was 

 found impossible to induce people to leave the birds alone. Within 

 a few months of their liberation two of them were shot by a keeper 

 at Finningham on June 20th, 1901, and another by a farmer near 

 Cambridge. The Bustard being a game-bird within the definition 

 of the principal game act, which prohibits its destruction during the 

 close time, the two delinquents were prosecuted and fined, but 

 unfortunately that did not save the birds. Others disappeared, and 

 were heard of considerably to the westward, two being seen in 

 South Wales, where one of them was killed, the survivor being 

 subsequently shot in south-east Ireland, and both were preserved by 

 a well-known taxidermist in Dublin. Some may have died a natural 

 death, or by accident. At any rate, the birds came to an untimely 

 end, and it is a deplorable fact that, after all the trouble and 

 expense incurred, the experiment proved abortive. This is the more 

 to be regretted because as we are informed, some nests were found, 

 and of one of them a photograph . . . was taken. This was found 

 on the Elveden estate in April, 1901." 



