BUSTARD COOT. 179 



called Bogbumper, Bitterbum, or Miredrum (ardea stellaris le 

 butor) ; and the LITTLE BITTERN (at Sea minuta leblongios). 



BUSTARDS. 



From the open plains, which they frequent, you 

 have fewer opportunities of approaching bustards than 

 most other wild birds. They will, however, sometimes 

 suffer carts and carriages to pass very near them, 

 from which they have been frequently shot; and 

 they are also killed in places where they have been 

 used to see shepherds, by means of the shooter carry- 

 ing a hurdle to conceal his gun. 



There are two kinds of Bustard j the GREAT, or Common 

 (otis tarde I'outardc) ; and the LITTLK BUSTARD ( otis tetrax 

 la petite outarde}. 



COOTS, 



When found in rivers, are scarcely thought worth 

 firing at ; yet they are in great requisition when they 

 arrive for the winter on the coast, from the immense 

 numbers that may be killed at a shot, as they roost 

 on the mud banks. They are generally sold for 

 eighteen-pence a couple, previously to which they 

 are what is called cleaned. The recipe for this is, 

 after picking them, to take off all the black down, by 

 means of powdered white rosin and boiling water, 

 and then to let them soak all night in cold spring 

 water ; by which they are made to look as delicate 

 as a chicken, and to eat tolerably well ; but, without 

 this process, the skin, in roasting, produces a sort of 

 oil, with a fishy taste and smell ; and, if taken off, 



N 2 



