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Usually this bird is difficult to approach, except during the heat of the day, when it lies 

 extended on the ground in the glare of the sun, its long legs stretched out ; and it lies until one 

 is close upon it, when it usually seeks safety by running off swiftly ; and being so close in colour 

 to the soil it is not easily observed at any distance. 



It feeds on insects, worms, plants, and seeds, and, being a voracious bird, it renders great 

 service in destroying grasshoppers and locusts ; it also eats snails, slugs, and even small reptiles. 



With regard to the habits of this Bustard in the Dobrudscha, we cannot do better than give 

 the following excellent notes by Mr. Hudleston : — " The westward slope of the height of land 

 in the neighbourhood of Trajan's wall is also favourite ground for Bustards, especially for the 

 Little Bustards. The latter arrive from the south rather before the middle of April, in flocks of 

 considerable size, many staying to breed here, whilst others are moving further north. The 

 male birds are particularly demonstrative at this time of the year ; and being often occupied in 

 parading their attractions in groups of ten or a dozen to the females, which are crouching some- 

 where in the grass, they are not so wide awake as at other seasons, and thus afford a better 

 chance to the gun. On foot, even with a rifle, it is not easy to reach them ; but with an araba, 

 judiciously managed, very fair sport may be had. After a few months' experience of the stony 

 mountains and dense coverts of Greece, nothing can be more exhilarating than a gallop in an 

 araba over the breezy downs of the Dobrudscha in early spring. It is true that at starting you 

 expect concussion of the brain must necessarily ensue, as there are no roads, and your driver 

 dashes over all minor inequalities of the surface ; but this feeling soon goes away, and you get 

 on famously until a wheel comes off, or until you make the unpleasant discovery that your 

 powder-flask has been rattled out of the cart, in which latter case you face about and retrace your 

 track till it is found. In these expeditions I and my friend B. B. used to take it in turns to 

 drive and shoot. But supposing all these little mischances are overcome and Bustard-ground 

 fairly reached, a wild yet pleasing scene it is, on a sunny spring morning, such as those which 

 we had the good fortune to enjoy. On all sides an undulating prairie, solitary in the extreme, 

 yet not destitute of bird life. The traveller on his way back from the south will here see the 

 well-known Sky-Lark (Alauda arvensis) breeding plentifully in the midst of A. cristata and 

 A. bracliydactyla. The Grey Partridge keeps pretty close ; but occasionally one will get up, in 

 spite of the numerous Harriers that contribute further to enliven the landscape, which, also, is 

 seldom free from the presence of one of the grass-breeding Eagles (Aquila ncevia). Occasionally 

 Vultures may be seen soaring aloft. Both Gyps fulvus and Vtdtur monachus have been noticed : 

 once I shot at an individual of the latter species with a pistol. Now and then passes a troop of 

 Ducks or Wild Geese, a flock of Waders, or perhaps a few stray Terns or Gulls, on their way to 

 the marshes. Often, too, the Buddy Shelduck may be seen, watching its opportunity for popping 

 unnoticed into its hole in a mound or tumulus. Presently some Bustards are descried on the 

 opposite slopes, and away we gallop towards them. It may so happen that they take the alarm 

 and fly before we are within a quarter of a mile. The Great Bustard almost invariably does ; 

 but the Little Bustard, besides being more plentiful, is less wary, and often takes no notice of 

 the araba. Arrived within 200 yards, we commence ' great-circle sailing,' gradually shortening 

 the distance, though, to the flock, we seem ever going away from them. The pace is now a good 

 trot, and the great thing is to pull up dead when about forty yards off, firing the instant the birds 



