THE BUSTARD IX THE ISLiVXD OF SARDINIA. 181 



by the attrition of the stomach, but without any ap- 

 pearance of erosion. I confess this appears marvellous. 



In Sir Eobert Libbold's time they were found in the 

 Merse, but are now supposed to be extinct in Scotland. 

 In Hungary they are so numerous that they have some- 

 times been seen in flocks of two or three hundred. 



In the island of Sardinia I have frequently seen the 

 large and small bustard, but they were so shy that I 

 never could get a shot at them. The bustard, or wild 

 turkey, of South America, is a different species of bird 

 from that of Europe. In their plumage they are en- 

 tirely black, weighing sometimes as much as twenty 

 pounds. They perch on the branches of the trees, and 

 are a stupid silly bird, easily approached. In "My 

 Travels in the Interior of the Eepublic of Columbia," 

 I gave an instance of this, when a gentleman, a native of 

 the countr}^, w^ho was travelling with me, snapped his 

 flint gun three or four times at one which never moved 

 from the branch of the tree, and he at last shot it. 

 The flesh of this bird is excellent, and my man cook 

 I brought with me from England used to make most 

 palatable and nourishing soup of it. When travelling in 

 some of the provinces of this then extensive republic, 

 a gun is a very convenient commissary, more especially 

 when you arrive within a few days' journey of the 

 Andes, for then neither house nor Indian cabin is to be 

 seen on the northern side of these mountains ; nothing 

 but barancas or large barns, erected by the Grovern- 

 ment for travellers with their mules to find shelter. 



From the open and extensive plains which the bvistard 

 in Europe frequents, and as he is generally on the alert, 

 it is difficult to get -within shot ; however, by accom- 



N 3 



