GREAT Bustanrp. CURSORES. OTIS. S27 
parts of the county of Norfolk, particularly where the enclo- Locality. 
sures are extensive, and the soil of a dry sandy character. It 
is to be hoped that protection will there be given to the few 
that survive, and that no endeavours will be spared to pre- 
vent the total extinction of so noble a native bird; although 
probably, in consequence of the present scarcity of males, 
and the destruction of the eggs, arising from the improved 
practice of hand-hoeing the corn, all endeavours may prove 
ineffectual. | ! 
Upon Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire (where it used formerly 
to abound), we are told by Montacu, that, from the great 
price obtained for the eggs and young, to hatch and rear in 
confinement, it had become very rare; and, in the Supple- 
ment to his work, published in 1813, he says that not a single 
Bustard had been seen for two or three years previous to that 
date, even in their most favourite haunts. As, from the an- 
swers to all inquiries on this subject, I am not able to state 
their reappearance, it must be concluded that the breed is 
now extinct upon those extensive downs, of which it once 
formed the appropriate ornament. The Bustard resides in 
its native haunts through the whole year, frequenting the 
corn-fields in summer, and being found amongst turnips in 
the winter season; and, in very severe storms of snow, 
when the ground may be deeply covered, it is sometimes com- 
pelled Gn small flocks) to seek for more sheltered situations, 
or to visit the maritime parts of the country. But these mi- 
grations too often prove fatal, so large an object soon attract- 
ing attention; and it rarely escapes from the number of its 
pursuers. 
The female deposits two eggs upon the bare ground (oc- Eggs. 
casionally amongst clover, but more frequently in corn-fields) 
early in spring; which rather exceed those of a turkey in 
size, and their colour is a yellowish-brown, inclining to oil- 
green, with slight darker variations. Incubation lasts four 
weeks, and the young, as soon as excluded, follow their pa- 
rent, but are incapable of flight for a long time.—The Bus- 
