218 THE BUSTARD. 



everything seemed to have been regulated by a preconcerted 

 plan, in which every member understood and went through 

 his part with equal accuracy and freedom. From north to 

 south they held on their steady flight, even as Milton has 

 described the order of their going, — 



In common, ranged in figure, wedge their way, 

 Intelligent of seasons, and set forth 

 Their airy caravans, high over seas 

 Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing 

 Easing their flight." 



A very rare bird in England, and now-a-days not very 

 common in any part of Temperate Europe, is the Bustard ; 

 which, in the naturalist's classification, occupies an inter- 

 mediate position between the plover and the partridge, and 

 in some respects may be regarded as the European repre- 

 sentative of the Ostrich family. Unlike the cassowary or 

 the ostrich, it is provided with large mngs ; but it makes 

 very little use of them, generally running along the ground, 

 and only rising into the air on exceptional occasions. When 

 once on the wing, however, its flight is strong and easily 

 sustained. It feeds on vegetable matter, worms, and in- 

 sects; has a long neck and longer legs; measures about 

 two feet six inches in length, and weighs about twenty 

 pounds. 



We close our notices of the European Birds which figure 

 so agreeably in our landscapes, in dale and upland, in 

 pasture and cornfield, in marsh and wood, with some part- 

 ing words on the Bittern and the Heron, to which our 

 previous allusions have been brief and imperfect. 



