BUSTARDS 



a winter day's driving with these bustards is a favourite 

 sport, in which good shooting, a knowledge of the 

 habits of the game, and much tactical skill in placing 

 the guns and manoeuvring the birds, all come into play. 

 The Spaniards have a somewhat curious plan men- 

 tioned by Colonel Irby of shooting bustards at night 

 by means of a stalking-horse, a lantern, and a bell a 

 truly strange combination. The gunner walks stealthily 

 behind the horse, while his companion rings the bell 

 and shows the lantern. It is to be supposed that the 

 birds are in some way attracted or stupefied by this 

 extraordinary proceeding ; at all events, three or four at 

 a shot are sometimes secured in this way. 



The male of the great bustard weighs as much as 

 from 25 Ibs. to 35 Ibs., the hen bird seldom more than 

 12 Ibs. to 14 Ibs. In reasonably good condition these 

 magnificent birds are delicious eating fat, tender, and 

 of most excellent flavour. That our ancestors set much 

 store by these bustards, even when they were plentiful 

 in this country, is proved by the price they paid for 

 them. In 1760, while wild ducks fetched no more than 

 6d. apiece, hares 6d., partridges 3^., and wild geese i^., 

 bustards commanded 2s. y and pheasants, then scarce 

 birds, is. 6d. In 1833, by which time these birds were 

 becoming very rare the last indigenous Norfolk bustard 

 was shot in 1838 the price had gone up immensely and 

 the bustard was quoted at from one to three guineas. 



The little bustard, found largely in Spain and North 

 Africa, is a mere straggling visitant to these islands, 

 and would never seem to have been indigenous or 

 familiar. Migrating specimens of these birds are, how- 

 ever, still occasionally recorded and, most usually, in- 

 continently shot during autumn and winter in Great 

 Britain. 



One of the most curious habits of the great bustard is 



in 



