216 THE BUSTARD. 



It may at first appear singular, how a bird of so large 

 a size could possibly find shelter in so cultivated a 

 country as England ; but the wonder will cease when 

 we are told, that they are only to be found in the most 

 open parts, where they can at a distance discover the 

 appearance of an enemy before there is a possibility of 

 their approach. Salisbury Plain, the heaths of Sussex 

 and Cambridgeshire, the Dorsetshire uplands, and 

 as far as East Lothian in Scotland, are the places 

 where these birds chiefly abound : their food is com- 

 posed of the berries that grow among the heath j and 

 large earth-worms that appear in great quantities on 

 the downs before sun-rising in summer. It is in vain 

 that the fowler creeps forward to approach them : they 

 have always sentinels placed on eminences, which are 

 ever on the watch to warn the flock of the slightest 

 appearance of danger. Though these enormous birds 

 seldom fall a prey to the sportsman's skill, yet they are 

 often run down by greyhounds, as they are so vora- 

 cious in their eating that they become so fat and cor- 

 pulent they are unable to rise in the air without the 

 utmost difficulty. 



As their food is replete with moisture, it enables them 

 to live upon those dry plains, where there are scarcely 

 any springs of water for a length of time, without 

 drinking. Besides this, Nature has given the males a 

 large pouch under the tongue, which is said to contain 

 near seven quarts of water. This provident provision 

 was probably not only made for the use of the animal 

 to which it belongs, but to supply the hen when sitting, 

 or the young before they can fly. 



The bustard makes its nest upon the ground, only just 

 scraping a hole in the earth, and sometimes lining it 

 with a little grass. The female lays only two eggs, 





