rsy-BiEDs.] 



BY FIELD, WOOD, AND WATER. 



[fen-bibds. 



metal. BuiVoa relates a sonunvliat straii^o 

 storv of one that waa opened before the lioval 

 Acaileniicians of Frauce; in the stomach of 

 which there wero ninefi/ douhloons, all worn 

 and polished by the attrition of the coats of the 

 stomach. 



Shooting the bustard was once a very fa- 

 vourite sport with the gentlemen of England. 

 Then, however, they were more plentiful. In 

 autumn they appeared in tho largest num- 

 bers. Sometimes as many as fifty or more 

 would be seen together near the Downs in 

 Wiltshire. In Scotland the bird is supposed to 

 be quite extinct. In former days, all sorts of con- 

 trivances were invented to gain upon the wary 

 bird ; carts and coaches, in which gunners were 

 concealed, was a favourite plan ; and Mark- 

 ham tells us, that in his time (nearly two cen- 

 turies and a-half ago), the stalking-horse was 

 the surest mode of capture. It was a great 

 achievement to get a shot at the bird, and 

 a still greater to kill him. It was not an un- 

 common thing for even greyhounds to course 

 the bustard — as it displays always a great re- 

 luctance to take wing, and is often success- 

 fully overtaken by the dogs, and secured. 



About thirty years ago, two fine male birds 

 were shot in Northumberland, which weighed 

 nearly twenty-five pounds each. Salisbury 

 Plain has long been noted for them ; but we 

 believe, at the present hour, they are but 

 seldom seen, even in this favoured locality. 

 There have been a few stray birds taken in 

 the high grounds in Wales, within the last 

 ten years. They are very common in Eussia, 

 Germany, and Tartary. 



The Little Bustard (^Otis Tetrax, Linnaeus). 



This is a smaller species of tho bird, being 

 sixteen inches in length, and thirty-five in 

 breadth, with outstretched wings. Its weight 

 is about twenty-five ounces. Bewick says — 

 " It is very uncommon in this country ; wo 

 have only seen two, both of them females. ]t 

 is, however, common in France, wiicro it is 

 taken in nets, like the ])artridge ; but it is not 

 an easy prey, being a very shy and cunning 

 bird ; if disturbed, it Hies two or three hundred 

 paces, not far from tho ground, and then runs 

 away much faster than any one can follow on 

 foot. The female lays in June, to the number 

 of three or four eggs, of a glossy green ; and, 

 as soon as the young are hatched, she leads 

 them about as the hen does her chickens, and 

 they are able to fly about the middle of 

 August." 



In India the bustard is a favourite table 

 bird; but even thousands of gastronomes in 

 this country, if it were brought to table, would 

 be at a loss to know what it was. Colonel 

 Montague tells us that, in ISOi, one was shot 

 and taken to Plymouth market, where a pub- 

 lican purchased it for one shilling — what would 

 have fetched two or three guineas where its 

 value was known. This rare wanderer was, 

 however, so entirely unknown, that it was re- 

 jected at the second table as improper food, in 

 consequence of the pectoral muscle difiering in 

 colour from the other parts of the breast — a 

 circumstance not unusual in birds of the grouse 

 kind. Some country gentlemen supping at the 

 inn the following evening, and hearing of the 

 circumstance, desired that they might be in- 

 troduced to the princely bird, and, at their 

 repast, partook of it cold. 



CHAPTER XI. 



FEN-BIRD3. 



The term "fen-birds" embraces a numerous 

 class, all breeding in the fens — which, by the 

 way, are fast disappearing before the march of 



progress — but roving into different localities, 

 especially during the first part of tho year. 

 They consist of wild ducks, geese, gargerries, 



565 



