26 BIKDS OF NORFOLK. 



the interest taken in the subject by the late Sir William 

 Hooker, I have had transmitted to me extracts from a 

 journal kept by Mr. Hardy, which show that on May 

 6th, 1801, he received a bustard's egg from Mr. Winner, 

 of Litcham ; on May 13th, 1802, two eggs from Mr. 

 Sainty, of Heachajn ; as also, on June 10th, 1803, and 

 June 7th, 1804. On October 26th, 1804, Mr. Hardy 

 writes that he received a young male bustard from Lord 

 Petre, who at that time owned the Buckenham estate, 

 near Thetford. On May 30th, 1808, three eggs were 

 sent him by Mr. Pratt (of Ryston ?), and on November 

 8th, 1813, he received " a fine male bustard about six 

 months old from George Turner, of Thetford." To all the 

 entries of eggs, except the first, Mr. Hardy adds that he 

 placed them under a hen immediately. With reference, 

 also, to Mr. Hardy's birds, Yarrell (" Brit. Bds.," 3rd ed., 

 vol. ii., p. 422) quotes the following passage from a note 

 at the foot of page 197, in Bennett's edition of White's 

 Selborne : " Two birds of this kind, male and female, 

 have been kept in the garden ground belonging to the 

 Norwich Infirmary, and have but lately been sold by 

 the owner of them. The male bird was very beautiful 

 and courageous, apparently afraid of nothing, seizing any 

 one that came near him by the coat ; yet, on the appear- 

 ance of any small hawk high in the air, he would squat 

 close to the ground, expressing strong signs of fear. 

 The female was very shy." This, so-called, Norwich 

 " Infirmary," however, as I have very recently ascer- 

 tained, was no other than the Norfolk and Norwich 

 Hospital, from whose archives it appears that Mr. George 

 Hardy filled the office of house surgeon and apothecary 

 to that institution from the year 1793 to 1826, and it was, 

 therefore, in the enclosure at the back of the Hospital 

 that his experiments in hatching and rearing bustards 

 were carried on. In confirmation of the above I may 

 add the following communication very kindly sent me 



