AVES— BUSTARD. 



619 



The bustard (according to Plutarch) was found in Libya, in the environs of 

 Alexandria, in Syria, in Greece, in Spain, in France, in the plains of Poitou 

 and Champagne ; they are now and then seen in England, on the extensive 

 downs of Salisbury Plain, in the heaths of Sussex and Cambridgeshire, the 

 Dorsetshire uplands, and as far as East Lothian, in Scotland. In those 

 extensive plains, where there are no woods to screen the sportsman, nor 

 hedges to creep along, the bustards enjoy an indolent security. Their food 



is composed of the berries that grow among the heath, and the large earth- 

 worms that appear in great quantities on the downs before sunrising in 

 summer. They also eat green corn, the tops of turnips, and other vegeta- 

 bles ; and have even been known to devour frogs, mice, and young birds. 

 It is in vain that the fowler creeps forward to approach them ; they have 

 always sentinels placed at proper eminences, which are ever on the watch, 

 and warn the flock of the smallest appearance of danger. All therefore that 



