198 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



unfortunate quarry had approached well within range. 

 Writing to his friend the Hon. Danes Barrington, in 1770, 

 Gilbert White says, " There are bustards on the wide down 

 near Brighthelmstone, Sussex." 



One of the last of the great bustards observed on the 

 Norfolk fens was, we believe, in the year 1876. It was a 

 male, and every effort was made by the neighbouring 

 landowners to coax the bird to remain. A couple of hen 

 bustards were turned down on the fen in question by the 

 late Lord Lilford in the hope that the male would pair 

 with one of the females and breed, but the attempt proved 

 futile, and after a brief sojourn in the district the bird 

 disappeared, and was seen no more. We read that our 

 forefathers used to course the bustard with greyhounds, 

 but it is a moot question, we imagine, whether any but 

 winged or otherwise crippled birds were ever brought to 

 bag. True, the bustard is able to run like a redshank, 

 but he very much prefers escaping from his enemies by 

 flight, and we have seen a kori bustard with one wing 

 hopelessly smashed by a bullet make a vain attempt to 

 fly from its captor, instead of taking to its heels. 



The South African kori bustard (eupoditis kori), or 

 ghaum paauw of the Boers, is without doubt the king of 

 all game birds, both as regards size and plumage ; while 

 the flesh of a young paauw is quite equal, if not superior, 

 to that of the North American wild turkey. Some 

 naturalists assert that the bustards are not very distantly 

 related to the rails. But they differ from the rails in 

 having three toes only to either foot, in the absence of 

 bare tracks on the side of the neck, and the absence also 

 of an oil-gland. 



The brown, black, white, and grey plumage of these 



