292 THE RETURN OF THE GREAT BUSTARD 



chapters in Messrs. Abel Chapman and W. J. Buck's 

 ' Wild Spain/ It is evident that the birds are just as 

 much at home, and as well able to take care of them- 

 selves, as are partridges in this country, on the ' vast 

 stretches of silent corn-land' which are the Spanish 

 bustard's home. i Among the objects of sport there are 

 few more attractive scenes than a band of bustards at 

 rest. Bring your field-glasses to bear on that gather- 

 ing which you see yonder, basking in the sunshine, in 

 the full enjoyment of their siesta. There are four or 

 five and twenty of them ; and how immense they look 

 against the background of sprouting corn which covers 

 the landscape ; a stranger might well mistake them for 

 deer or goats. Most of the birds are sitting turkey- 

 fashion, their heads sunk among their feathers ; others 

 stand in drowsy yet half-suspicious attitudes, their broad 

 backs resplendent with those mottled hues of true 

 game-colour, and their lavender necks and well-poised 

 heads contrasting with the snowy whiteness of their 

 lower plumage.' This is a sketch largely from the 

 sportsman's point of view ; but as sportsmen are likely 

 to take a prominent share in the coming restoration of 

 the bird, those who are not familiar with this description 

 may derive some encouragement from such an agreeable 

 picture. ' Driving bustards ' is evidently an exciting 

 and artistic form of sport, and the birds, except the old 

 cocks, are excellent for the table. It is evident that in 





