LITTLE BUSTAKD. Otis tetrax. 



hundred yards of the bird at these times, as the whole flock would take flight immediately 

 they believed themselves in danger, and they had formed a very fair estimate of the 

 distance at which a smooth bore would be dangerous. The flight of the Pauw was 

 something like the heron's, except that, when it purposed settling, it would skim for a 

 considerable distance with its wings quite rigid. 



The bird being rather heavy, with the appearance of a full habit of body, it could not 

 take flight very readily. When it was possessed of a good feeding locality it seemed 

 disinclined to fly away, although its sense of danger was apparent. The sportsman might 

 then probably reach to within one hundred yards of the bird, particularly if there happened 

 to be only one near him, and if he did not look attentively in the direction of the Pauw. 

 It was still necessary, however, to ride round the circumference of a circle of which the 

 Pauw was the centre, and, by decreasing the radius, to approach nearer and nearer. If thfi 

 Pauw crouched, then it usually depended upon the accuracy of the shooting whether or not 

 the bird was killed ; for the sportsman might then gradually narrow the radius of his 

 circle, until he was within seventy or eighty yards, when he might dismount, if on horse- 

 back, and run in towards the bird, discharging the dose of buck-shot just as the Pauw 

 opened wide his wings. These birds are not confined to any particular locality, but seem 

 to range over any country within a radius of a hundred miles or so. 



The COEAN is much smaller than the pauw, is longer, in proportion, in the leg, and 

 is rarely seen in flocks. It is quite as much esteemed for the table as the larger bustard, 

 and possesses also the two coloured meats. The Goran may be expected where the grass 

 is long, near rivers or ponds, and where there are some portions of marshy ground ; but it 



