116 



THE GEKESEE FARMER. 



THE GREAT BUSTABD. 



The Bnstard is the largest land bird that is a 

 native of Europe. It was once much more common 

 than it is now, hut the increased cultivation of the 

 country, and the extreme delicacy of its flesh, have 

 greatly thinned the species, so that the time may 

 come when it may be doubted whether so large a 

 bird was ever had there. It is probable, long be- 

 fore this, that the Bustard would have been extir- 

 pated, but for its peculiar manner of feeding. It 

 inhabits the open and extensive plain, where its 

 food lies in abundance, and where every invader 

 may be seen at a distance. 



The Bustard, according to Pi-tJTAEcn, was found 

 in Lib3'a, in the environs of Alexandria, in Syria, 

 in Greece, in Spain, in France, the plains of Poiton 

 and Champagne. They are now and then seen in 

 England, and the extensive downs of Salisbury 

 Plain, in the heaths of Sussex and Cambridgeshire, 

 the Dorsetshire uplands, and as far as East Lothian 

 in Scotland. In those extensive plains where there 

 is no woods to screen the sportsman, no hedges to 

 creep along, the Bustards enjoy an indolent security. 

 Their food is composed of the berries that grow 

 among the heath, and the large earth Avorms that 

 appear in great quantities on the downs before 

 sunrise, in summer. They also eat green wheat, 

 the tops of turnips, and other vegetables; and 

 have even been known to devour frogs, mice, and 

 young birds. It is in vain that the towler creeps 

 forward to approach them ; they have ahvays sen- 

 tinels placed at proper eminences, which are ever 

 on the watch, and warn the flock of the smallest 

 appearance of danger. All, therefore-, that is left 

 for the sportsman, is the comfortless view of their 

 distant security. IIo may wish, but they are in 

 safety. 



It sometimes happens that these birds, though 

 they are seldom shot by the gun, are run down by 

 greyhounds. As they are voracious and greedy. 

 they often sacritice their safety to their appetites, 

 and feed tliemselves so very fat, that they are 

 unable to fly without preparation. AVlien the 

 greyhound, therefore, comes within a certain dis- 

 tance, the Bustard runs off, flapping its wings and 

 endeavoring to gather air under them to rise ; in 

 the meantime the enemy approaches nearer till it 

 Ls too late for the bird even to think of obtaining 



safety by flight ; for, just at the rise, there is al- 

 ways tim6 lost, and of this the bird is sensible ; it, 

 therefore, continues on the foot until it is taken. 



As there are few places where they can at once 

 find proper food and security, so they generally 

 continue near their old haunts, seldom wandering 

 above twenty or thirty miles from home. As their 

 food is replete with moistures, it enables them to 

 live upon those dry plains Avhere there are scarcely 

 any springs of water, a long time without drink- 

 ing. Besides this, nature has given the males an 

 an admirable magazine for their security against 

 thirst. This is a pouch, the entrance of which lies 

 immediately under the tongue, and capable of 

 holding near seven quarts of water. This is prob- 

 ably filled upon proper occasions, to supply the hen 

 when sitting, or the young before they can fly. The 

 Bustard makes use of its reservoir to defend it- 

 self against birds of prey ; which it affects by 

 ejecting the water with such violence as often to 

 arrest the progress of its enemy. 



The weight of this bird varies considerably. — 

 Some have been found of not more than ten pounds, 

 others have been found of twenty-seven, and even 

 thirty. The female is not more than half the size 

 of the males. The Bustard is distinguished from 

 tlie Ostrich and Cassowary by its wings, which, 

 although disproportioned to the size of its body, yet 

 serve to elevate in the air, and enable it to fly, 

 though with some difl3culty ; they ai-e generally 

 about four feet from tip to tip, one to the other. 



The Bustard is not knovvn in America. Besides 

 the delicacy of their flesh, the quills were once 

 valuable, as they made excellent pens, but they are 

 still more valued by anglers, who use them for 

 floats; for as they are spotted with black, the 

 notion is that these black spots appear as flies to 

 the fish, which they rather allure than drive away 

 by their appearance, c. n. bement. 



Springside, March, 1S59. 



Ax East Wat to Cultivate Potatoes. — Pre- 

 pare the ground well ; and if not a strong turf the 

 ground may be furrowed very shallow. Drop the 

 potatoes any desired distance apart you jdease, 

 cover them with a plow, making a sharp ridge. — 

 You will disturb some of the end hills by turning 

 around ; but with a little more seed and and a hoe 

 tliat evil may be remedied. Tlie potatoes will be 

 covered rather deep ; but some days after planting 

 take a common log chain, hook each end of the 

 ciiain around a good bunch of timber brush, and 

 hitch your team to a centre link of the chain, putr 

 ting a spreader into the chain in order to carry the 

 front end of tlie brush in each furrow, letting the 

 brushy parts lap over each other; lay a short board 

 across, and you may ride at ease, and see your 

 ground swept as clean as you could desire. After 

 the potatoes have begun to break ground, repeat 

 the same operation, and you will be pleased to see 

 all the small weeds brushed out of the hills. The 

 remainder must be done by hoe and cultivator. — L. 

 Beacu, Romulus, N. Y. 



■ •^— 



"Without animals to use the oxygen, and re- 

 turn the carbon to the atmosphere, plants could 

 not live. Witliout plants to use the carbon, and 

 return the oxygen to the atmosphere, animals 

 could not live. 



