Some Great Bustards.



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back until at last be has pushed one into the shed. There one has

to disengage oneself as best one can, escape, and close the door,.

He pushes with his breast, bringing his whole weight against one

with surprising force. (Bustards of course fight exactly as

Turkeys do : they interlock their bills and then bear against one

. another.) He attacks anyone who enters the enclosure. There

are two apple trees on the Bustards’ lawn, and while one gardener

was gathering apples another had to keep guard. His method of

attack is always the same. As soon as anyone enters the

enclosure he comes up at a run and confronts him. Then lie

halts and gradually works himself up into a rage ; when this is at

its height his wings droop, their shorter feathers are erected, and

his tail and certain body feathers point forward. He is ready

for combat. The next move is to advance sideways and “ lay for

a chance.” If you turn away a little, or even if your attention

is momentarily diverted, he whips round, lowers his head and

charges home. A nip from his strong bill is very effective.

This fighting transformation, which is continued through the

autumn and winter, is precisely that of the spring display,

excepting that the neck is not distended, nor the head and neck

retracted.


He has one little game which always amuses me. The

bird’s accustomed position is on the highest part of the outer

bank at the point marked B. Here they have, as it were, their

citadel ; to this point they have made runs through the dense

Harpalium , and here they spend most of the day preening their

feathers, dusting themselves, and looking out across the river on

to hills once tenanted by others of their race.


Well, when I enter the enclosure the male runs up and

challenges as usual ; but if I spend some time cleaning up the

shelter house he gets tired and finds his way back to the

acropolis. When I have finished and leave the house he comes

down the bank, and lowering his head runs along out of sight

under cover of bank D, so as to head me off before I can get to

the gate. Then suddenly he comes bouncing out at the end of

the bank and often gets between me and the gate, and cuts me

off, laughing his hoarse laugh. He most evidently enjoys this



