THE BUSTARD 107 



with a green-coated Prussian gamekeeper as driver, sighted 

 one of the birds he had come after. 



The latter allowed the cart to come within a certain 

 distance, then seeing the two men getting out and coming 

 towards him, "the old bird walked proudly and without 

 haste in the opposite direction. . . . Having walked 

 perhaps a hundred yards, he took sudden flight and rose 

 unexpectedly from the ground. His great stretch of wings, 

 his neck extended in front, and the brightness of his 

 white, grey, and chestnut feathers presented a very noble 

 appearance, as he flew steadily and easily away, at a little 

 above the level of the ground." 



When he again settled it was among his fellows. They 

 formed a group of about a dozen, but they had joined 

 fellowship with a herd of roe-deer, and the birds and the 

 deer were feeding together in the most friendly and sociable 

 way.^ 



It is worth while going after Bustard in spring, even 

 if the sportsman goes without his gun. For to creep up 

 unobserved within sight of a flock, when the male birds 

 are "displaying"^ — a veritable performance in itself, and 

 only noticed in pairing time — is to see one of the most 

 remarkable sights in the bird-world. 



The antics the male bird goes through are almost past 

 belief As some folks say, they are "just too funny for 

 anything." His object seems to be to show the hen birds 

 what a very fine fellow he is. First he tries to make 

 himself look as big and important as he can. Next 

 he seeks to rouse admiration by an exhibition of the 



^ In the early part of this chapter I have said something about the resemblance 

 between the build of the Bustard and that of the ostrich. In the above fact we 

 are again reminded of the ostrich, which is constantly seen in the company of 

 four-footed friends, such as antelopes and zebras. 



