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CHAPTEE III. 



THE GEEAT BUSTABD. 



A characteristic and withal a truly noble and orna- 

 mental object is the Great Bustard, on those vast stretches 

 of silent corn-lands which form his home. Among the 

 things of sport are few more attractive scenes than a band 

 of bustards at rest-. Bring your field-glass to bear on that 

 gathering which you see yonder, basking in the sunshine, 

 in full enjoyment of their siesta. There are four- or five- 

 and-twenty of them, and how immense they look against 

 the background of sprouting corn that covers the landscape : 

 well may a stranger mistake them for deer or goats. 

 Most of the birds are sitting turkey-fashion, their heads 

 sunk among the feathers : others stand in drowsy yet 

 half-suspicious attitudes, their broad backs resplendent 

 with those mottled hues of true game-colour, their lavender 

 necks and well-poised heads contrasting with the snowy 

 whiteness of their lower plumage. The bustards are 

 dotted in groups over an acre or two of the gently sloping 

 ground, the highest part of which is occupied by a single 

 big barbiido, a bearded veteran, the sentinel of the party. 

 From his elevated position he estimates what degree of 

 danger each living thing that moves on the open region 

 around may threaten to his companions and himself. 

 Mounted men cause him less concern than those on foot : 

 a horseman slowly directing a circuitous course may even 

 approach to within a couple of hundred yards of him 

 before he takes alarm. It was the head and neck of this 

 sentry that first appeared to our distant view, and disclosed 

 the whereabouts of the game. He, too, has seen us, and 

 is even now considering whether there is sufficient cause 



D 



