BLACK HEADED BUSTARD LEADEN -TINTED BUSTARD. 289 



flustards feed on green corn, the tops of turnips, and other vegeta- 

 bles as well as on worms: and they have been known to eat Frogs, 

 Mice, and also yonng 

 birds. They are re- 

 markable for their 

 great timidity; they 

 carefully avoid man- 

 kind, and are easily 

 driven away in whole 

 herds by the smallest 

 dog. 



In England these 

 birds are now and 

 then met with: they 

 frequent the open 

 countries of the south 

 and east parts, from 

 Dorsetshire, as far as 

 the wolds in York- 

 shire ; and are some- 

 times, though rarely, 

 seen on Salisbury 

 Plain. They are 

 slow in taking wing, 

 but run with great 

 rapidity ; and the 

 young ones are 

 sometimes coursed 

 and taken by Grey- 

 hounds, which are 



GRJBAT BUSTARD/ FEMALE. 



conveyed towards them in covered carts until such time as they evince 

 symptoms of alarm and begin to move off, when the dogs are slipped 

 from their couplings. Of wayfaring people, however, it seems to have 

 little apprehension ; the usual plan, therefore, is for the sportsman to 

 clothe himself like a peasant, and to make up to it with a basket on 

 his back, holding his gun closely by his side. 



THE LITTLE BUSTARD. 



Unlike the larger species the Little Bustard is not restricted to flat 

 and open districts, but frequently inhabits mountainous regions. 

 Although closely resembling the species last described in many respects, 

 it yet differs from it considerably in the ease and comparative lightness 

 of its movements. Its gait is more graceful and its flight more swift 

 and capable of being long sustained. In disposition it is cautious, but 

 by no means so shy as the Great Bustard ; if disturbed it seeks safety 

 by squatting close to the ground among the grass or brushwood. 



