BRITISH BIRDS. 369 



Douglas, who supposes that the bird fills it with 

 water as a supply in the midst of those dreary 

 plains where it is accustomed to wander;* it like- 

 wise makes a further use of it in defending itself 

 against the attacks of birds of prey; on such occa- 

 sions it throws out the water with such violence as 

 to baffle the pursuit of its enemy. 



Bustards were formerly more common in this 

 island than at present; they are now found only in 

 the open countries of the South and East, in the 

 plains of Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and in some parts 

 of Yorkshire ; they were formerly met with in Scot- 

 land, but are now extinct there. They are slow in 

 taking wing, but run with great rapidity, and when 

 young are sometimes taken with greyhounds, 

 which pursue them with great avidity: the chase is 

 said to afford excellent diversion to men whose 

 pleasures in life consist almost wholly in excite- 

 ments of this sort. The Great Bustard is graniv- 

 orous, but feeds also on herbs of various kinds; it 

 is likewise fond of those worms which come out of 

 the ground in great numbers before sunrise in the 

 summer; in winter it frequently feeds on the bark 

 of trees; like the Ostrich, it swallows small 

 stones,! bits of metal, and the like. The female 

 builds no nest, but making a hole on the ground, 

 drops two eggs, of a pale olive brown, with dark 



* One of these birds, which was kept in a caravan, among other 

 animals, as a show, lived without drinking. It was fed with leaves 

 of cabbages and other greens, and also with flesh and bread. 



f In the stomach of one which was opened by the academicians, 

 there were found, besides small stones, to the number of ninety 

 doubloons, all worn and polished by the attrition of the stomach. 

 Buff. 



VOL. I. 3 A 



