THE BUSTAED.] 



SHOOTING, 



[the bustabd. 



We can scarcely move in any direction in 

 South "Wales, without meeting with vast num- 

 bers of these birds ; but they must be sought 

 after and followed in very odd places ; and we 

 must never scruple to plunge up to the middle 

 to gain our object. This sport is undoubtedly 

 a very exciting one, but it must be purchased 

 at a certain cost of bodily labour, privation, 

 and discomfort; and only those individuals 

 possessing sound and vigorous constitutions, 

 should follow it. 



The time of the arrival and departure of 

 migrating birds, has been thus noted by Mr. 



Markwright, whose observations extended over 

 a period of twenty-six years: — 



First seen. Last seen. 



Woodcock October 26 April 1 



Snipe November 20 ^larch 20 



Jack-snipe December 26 March 16 



Landrail September 1 October 20 



Quail August 20 — — 



Red-wing November 20 INIarch 18 



Field-fare November 21 April 19 



Roy ston crow ... December 22 March 16 



Swallow April 18 October 31 



Swift May 9 September 3 



Cuckoo May 7 July 10 



Wheat-ear May 4 September 26 



CHAPTER X. 



THE BUSTARD. 



The greater bustard (the Otis Tarda of Lin- 

 ngBus) is one of the largest of British game- 

 birds ; but it is now rarely met with. It is 

 about four feet long, and from twenty-five to 

 thirty pounds weight; its bill is strong, and 

 rather convex ; its eyes are red, and its head 

 and neck are ash-coloured. On each side of 

 the lower bill is a tuft of feathers, from five to 

 nine inches long, the back of which is barred 

 transversely with black and rust colour; the 

 large quill feathers are brown, and the belly 

 white. There are twenty feathers in the tail, 

 those of the middle being of a rust colour, 

 barred with deep black, and those on each side 

 white. The legs are long and naked beyond 

 the knees, and are of a dusky colour. The bird 

 has no hind toe ; its nails are short, strong, and 

 of considerable convexity, both above and be- 

 low, and the bottom of the foot is furnished 

 with a callous prominence, which serves the 

 purpose of a heel. The female bird is smaller 

 in size than the male. The crown of the head 

 of the former is of a deep orange, crossed with 

 transverse black lines ; the rest of the head is 

 brown. The lower part of the fore-side of the 

 neck is ash-coloured, and she is destitute of 

 the tuft on each side of the head ; in other re- 

 spects her plumage resembles that of the male, 

 with the exception that the colours of the back 

 561 



and wings are less vivid and glossy. The male 

 is furnished with a kind of pouch, capable of 

 containing nearly seven pints of water, the en- 

 trance to which is immediately under the 

 tongue. It is supposed that the bird fills this 

 to supply its wants in those dry and thirsty 

 plains which it inhabits. Some naturalists 

 say that the male supplies the female with a 

 portion of the liquid when she is sitting on her 

 Qil"^. In Morocco, where the hawk is em- 

 ployed to capture the bustard, he makes use of 

 his pouclful of water as a means of defence ; 

 for, whenever the hawk is coming upon him, he 

 spirts it out upon his foe, and thus endeavours 

 to escape the consequences of his capture. The 

 female bustard makes no kind of nest, but sim- 

 ply scratches a hole in some dry field, and drops 

 two eggs upon the ground, as large as those of 

 a goose, and of a pale olive brown, dotted irre- 

 gularly with a number of small dark spots, re- 

 sembling the brown colour of the plumage. 

 She sits thirty days, and watches them with 

 great jealousy ; and it is said, if any one han- 

 dles them in her absence, she immediately 

 abandons them. 



Bustards feed on corn and vegetables of 

 various kinds; they likewise devour great 

 quantities of earthworms. Like the ostrich, 

 they even swallow small pebbles, and bits of 



