344 Struthlonidce. 



this view, showing that 'in Spain, during the great heat of 

 August and September, young birds are sometimes run down by 

 horsemen and dogs, as, after two or three low flights, they 

 become exhausted, being at that season extremely fat.' That 

 they have been captured under similar circumstances in England 

 is probable, and indeed one case is recorded by Mr. Lubbock 

 where the greyhounds came suddenly through a gate, and 

 ' chopped ' a Bustard ; but that anything like real and successful 

 Bustard coursing was ever habitually pursued is open to doubt.' 

 Mr. Saunders, however, notwithstanding this opinion, proceeds to 

 quote from the Naturalist's Pocket Magazine (1799-1800) as 

 follows : ' But though they cannot be reached by a fowling-piece, 

 they are sometimes run down by greyhounds. Being voracious 

 and greedy, they often sacrifice their safety to their appetites ; 

 and as they are generally very fat, they are unable to fly without 

 much preparation ; when therefore the greyhounds come within 

 a certain distance, the Bustards rim off, clap their wings, and 

 endeavour to gather under them enough air to rise; in the 

 meantime, the dogs are continually gaining ground, till at last it 

 is too late for flight. However, notwithstanding the sluggishness 

 of their usual pace, they can, when in danger, run very fast, and 

 once fairly on the wing, are able to fly several miles without 

 resting.' My last authority for this opinion is Mr. Hooper, of 

 Littleton, in the parish of Lavington, who has always lived on or 

 near the Plain, and states that he has often heard from old men 

 that in the days of Bustards the shepherds were in the habit of 

 hunting the young birds with their sheep-dogs ; he says, ' There 

 can be no doubt of the matter, as far as the practice of this neigh- 

 bourhood is concerned ;' but, he adds, ' the older birds were too 

 swift, under the combined help of wings and feet, thus to be 

 taken, and they were understood not to be so followed ; they 

 hunted the young ones before they were fully fledged.' With 

 such authority for the hunting of Bustards with dogs as I have 

 adduced, and I might mention much more to the same effect, I 

 do not see how we can deny the fact altogether, whether we 

 believe that the old birds were so coursed, as well as the young, 



