212 



but that anything like real and successful Bustard coursing 

 was ever habitually pursued, is open to doubt, in spite of the 

 statement, dated 1656, already quoted (p. 196). However, 

 in 'The Naturalist's Pocket Magazine, or Compleat Cabinet of 

 Nature' (1799-1800) is the following : " But though they 

 cannot be reached by a fowling-piece, they are sometimes 

 run down by greyhounds. Being voracious and greedy, they 

 often sacrifice their safety to their appetites ; and as they 

 are generally very fat, they are unable to fly without much 

 preparation ; when therefore the greyhounds come within a 

 certain distance the Bustards run off, clap their wings, and 

 endeavour to gather under them enough air to rise ; in the 

 meantime, the dogs are continually gaining ground, till at 

 last it is too late for flight. However, notwithstanding the 

 sluggishness of their usual pace, they can, when in danger, 

 run very fast, and once fairly on the wing, are able to fly 

 several miles without resting." These, or similar statements, 

 have been popularized by Bewick's well-known woodcut of 

 the Great Bustard being chased by a horseman and a grey- 

 hound, and are the source of the belief entertained by 

 many, that this kind of sport was pursued by our ancestors. 

 That Bustards have on rare occasions been found at day- 

 break so benumbed by a frost following on a heavy dew, as 

 to be unable to fly with ease, seems entitled to belief. 



Bustards have on many occasions been kept in confine- 

 ment, but as yet they have seldom been known to breed in that 

 state. The late Mr. George Hardy, who was house-surgeon 

 to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, between 1793 and 

 1826, appears, from the entries in his journal, to have re- 

 ceived at various times a good many eggs, which he placed 

 under a hen ; he also received more than one male bird, and 

 it is remembered by Mr. G. S. Kett, a former treasurer of 

 the hospital, that he had three or four birds alive in an 

 enclosure ; but as to the actual breeding or even the hatch- 

 ing-out of any of these particular birds, there seems to be 

 no direct evidence. In Tyrol, however, Dr. Althammer 

 records an instance (Bull. Soc. Imp. Acclim. 1861, p. 318) 

 of three eggs being laid in August, 1860, upon which the 



