THE BUSTARD. 22Q 



was apparent when the hawks, instead of attacking it on a level 

 with themselves, circled up with great swiftness, and tried to 

 rise above the heron, so that they might swoop down upon it 

 The heron rose with outstretched neck, and wings which moved 

 with great swiftness, in spite of their size but the hawks still 

 soared and soared in wide circles, and the party below rode and 

 ran keeping as nearly as possible under the birds. The hawks 

 had now risen above the heron, but still they went on circling 

 higher and higher, until they were mere specks in the sky. 

 Then they suddenly grew large as they swooped down, and the 

 heron gave another cry, and half turned on his back as they 

 struck him almost simultaneously, and hawl^s and heron 

 fluttered down a struggling mass to the ground. The hawks 

 were taken off and hooded, and after a short interval another 

 heron came in sight, and the other two hawks were flown 

 at it. 



When the sport was over, Frank got hold of one of the 

 warreners who had come to see it and asked him if he had 

 ever seen any great bustards about the warren, or the adjacent 

 fens. 



" Oh, ay, sir, when I was a lad many and many a one have 

 I seen, but now I have not seen one for more than three years. 

 They be almost killed out of the land now. One is to be 

 seen every two or three years, but it is always shot or trapped." 



" What sort of a bird is a great bustard ? " asked Dick. 



"It is a game bird as large as a full sized turkey, and far 

 better eating. There used to be droves of them on the fens 

 and the warrens, but they were shot and trapped right and left. 

 I mind when I was a boy I have seen as many as twenty 

 together on a warren, and then the warreners used to set a 

 battery of guns, and have a long string fastened to all the 

 triggers. Maybe the string was half a mile long, and then the 

 men at work on the warrens, or the marshes, had orders to pull 

 the string when they saw the bustards within reach of the guns. 

 They used to stalk them by walking on the off-side of a horse, 

 and, keeping it between them and the bustards, walk round 

 and round until they came within shot." 



The warrener was a very intelligent man, and he told them 

 much about the habits of this noble bird, which is now nearly 

 extinct in England. 



" Have you ever found its nest?" asked Jimmy. 



