300 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



THE GREAT BUSTARD. 



more obscure, 

 nine inches. 



The figure is stout ; length about 



THE GREAT BUSTARD. 



This bird, although formerly tolerably com- 

 mon in England, is now scarcely ever seen 

 there. It runs with great rapidity, and will 

 never rise on the wing until forced, so that in- 

 stances have been known of bustards being cap- 

 tured by greyhounds. It is exceedingly wary, and 

 can hardly be approached within gun-shot, ex- 

 cept by adopting some disguise as of a laborer, 

 with a gun in his wheel-barrow, or by driving a 



cart or a carriage by the spot where it is feed- 

 ing. 



The male bustard possesses a membraneous 

 pouch on the fore-part of the neck, capable of 

 holding six or seven pints of water. There is an 

 opening to this pouch under the tongue, and its 

 use is possibly, like that of the pelican, to carry 

 water for the use of the young, but this is not 

 ascertained. The length of the bird is rather 

 more than three feet. Its nest is a loose heap 

 of straw in the ground, and contains two pale- 

 brown eggs, spotted with darker brown, rather 

 larger than those of the turkey. 



