350 Struthionidoe. 



were known to be its favourite haunts, and they are described as 

 such by most of our older ornithologists. In 1667, Merrett 

 notices that it was ' taken on Newmarket Heath and about 

 Salisbury.' In 1713, Ray thus describes its localities : ' In campis 

 spatiosis circa Novum Mercatum et Royston, oppida in agro 

 Cantabrigiensi, inque planitie, ut audio, Salisburiensi, et alibi in 

 vastis et apertis locis invenitur.' In 1771, "Dr. Brooks says of it, 

 1 This bird is bred in several parts of Europe, and particularly in 

 England, especially on Salisbury Plain, etc., for it delights in 

 large open places ; the flesh is in high esteem, and perhaps the 

 more so because it is not very easy to come at.' In 1775, Gilbert 

 White was told by a carter at a farm on the downs near Andover, 

 that twelve years previously he had seen a flock of eighteen of 

 these birds, but that since that time he had only seen two ; though 

 Gilbert White's correspondent, Pennant, would lead one to 

 suppose them far more common, for he says, 'in autumn these are 

 {in Wiltshire) generally found in large turnip-fields near the 

 downs, and in flocks of fifty or more/ 



Up to this point, then, we may regard the Great Bustard, if not 

 very numerous (which from its size and its value it was not very 

 likely to be), as at any rate by no means a rare bird ; and doubtless 

 highly prized by our sporting forefathers was this pride of Wilt- 

 shire, this stately denizen of our plains. 



Thus in the latter quarter of the eighteenth century, when 

 Montagu lived in Wiltshire, the Bustard was to be found in some 

 numbers on our downs, as that accurate naturalist says he has often 

 contemplated it there with much pleasure. It was, however, begin- 

 ning to get scarce, and was deemed worthy of protection by law, 

 .and yet must have been plentiful enough to be thought worth 

 the effort to preserve it. Accordingly we find that a statute was 

 enacted in 15 George III., c. 65 (A.D. 1775), whereby a close time 

 for breeding was set apart, and it was forbidden, under a penalty 

 of one pound, to takeBustards between March 1st and September 

 1st. However, the native Bustards of Wiltshire gradually but 

 .surely decreased in number, the said Act notwithstanding. 



How long the native Bustards of Wiltshire lingered on, doubt- 



