438 STRUTHIONIM. 



the corn is cut and no cover remains, the young birds and 

 hens follow the cocks to the marisma } as they call these 

 great marshes in Spain. 



" The birds are very difficult to shoot, and many a long 

 day I have spent without any success in hunting them 

 about. The only chance is, to hide in a ravine or ditch, 

 and send men who know the country round the birds to 

 try and drive them over you. They sometimes succeed in 

 this, but not very often. The heaviest bird I shot weighed 

 28 Ibs. ; this was before the hens came, which may perhaps 

 account for this bird being two pounds heavier than any I 

 shot afterwards. The largest bird, from tip to tip of wing, 

 measured 7 feet 3 inches ; this bird weighed 26 Ibs. The 

 28 Ibs. bird measured but 7 feet 1 inch. 



" The birds of a year old weigh from 8 to 10 Ibs., and 

 are much the best to eat. I did not shoot a hen. 



" All the birds I shot had their stomachs perfectly 

 crammed with barley, both stalks and ears, the leaves of a 

 large-leaved green weed, and a kind of black beetle. The 

 pouch is surrounded by a layer of fat fully an inch thick. 

 I may add, that the Bustards when flushed generally fly 

 two miles or more, sometimes at least a hundred yards 

 high. They never try to run ; one that I had winged 

 making the most awkward attempt possible to get away 

 from me, and though a young bird, showing much more 

 disposition to fight than to get away by running. They 

 fly^with a regular flap of the wings, and much faster than 

 they appear to go. I cannot imagine greyhounds being 

 able to catch Bustards, though there seems to be good 

 authority for believing they did. There were a great 

 many Little Bustards about also, but I never followed 

 them, as I liked the large ones better." 



To my friend Mr. John Wolley, jun., a good ornitho- 

 logist, who had been in Spain and North Africa, I wrote 



