348 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



trained horse, on the high wolds near Burrow, 

 between Sledmere and Langtoft, in (presumably) the 

 month of March, 1808. The shooter was a game- 

 keeper of the name of Agars, who was at that time 

 in the employ of Mr. W. Thomas St. Quintin, of 

 Scampston Hall, near Malton. The third story, 

 which has in all probability been recorded before, 

 relates to the shooting of a Bustard by a tailor near 

 York, in 1865 ; this specimen was stuffed and 

 mounted by Graham, the well-known York bird- 

 stuffer, and is now in the museum of that city. 



The Great Bustard is easily reared and thrives well 

 in captivity, sometimes becoming very tame, but 

 requires a good range of ground and protection from 

 cold winds and especially from damp. All the birds 

 of this species that I have kept alive at Lilford had a 

 frantic terror of dogs, and lost all self-control at the 

 sight of one. Notwithstanding much learned writing 

 and discussion on the subject of the singular gular 

 pouch, or bladder, which is fully developed only in 

 the old males of this species during the breeding- 

 season, and it would seem not invariably even in 

 such instances, I am not aware that any conclusive 

 opinion as to its use has been published ; my own 

 conviction on the subject is, that it is a reservoir for 

 air, which is pumped up into the mouth when the bird 

 is on the wing, and thence drawn into the lungs, by 

 which means the labour of respiration through the 

 nostrils is economized ; but this is of course only 

 a surmise, probably quite an unscientific one, and 

 I very much wish that I could hear of a better 

 explanation of the purposes of this very curious 

 appendage. The only note that I have ever heard 

 from a Great Bustard is a sort of guttural cough, 

 when suddenly irritated or surprised ; but I have my 



