GREAT BUSTARD. 99 



March, severe contests taking place among the males, which are, at this time, much less 

 wary than at other seasons. The male, having left the female during incubation, joins 

 her and her young ones on its completion, and assists in the care of them. 



The call-note of the Bustard is said to be only a kind of 'coo,' somewhat like that 

 of a Pigeon. 



The food of the Bustard consists chiefly of vegetable substances, such as grasses of 

 various kinds, clover, green corn, cabbages, and other succulent plants; seeds, grain, and 

 insects, in the summer; occasionally also mice, and probably reptiles. The young birds 

 are said to feed exclusively upon insects. Stones and other hard substances are also 

 swallowed. "We remember once reading of one, in whose stomach ninety doubloons were 

 found, besides small stones, all well polished and worn; had this been an every clay 

 occurrence, the estimation in which they are held by sportsmen would be readily accounted 

 for; the celebrated Goose, which was said to lay golden eggs, would be quite thrown in 

 the shade in a country where Bustards were plentiful. 



The nest, or rather the place where the eggs are deposited, is simply a slight hollow 

 or depression in the ground; often in a corn or clover field. Occasionally it would 

 seem that it selected other and very different situations for its nest; thus Daniel states 

 that "In July, 1806, two gentlemen's servants observed near Bingwood Forest, a large 

 Puttock Hawk, suddenly pitch from the air, amongst some furze, and not seeing him 

 rise again, were led by curiosity to examine what kind of prey he had caught; and 

 which was a young Bustard, weighing nearly seven pounds." 



The eggs, which are but two in number, are of a yellowish brown colour, slightly 

 marked with a darker shade of the same. They measure nearly three inches in length, 

 by two inches and one-sixth in breadth. 



In four weeks the eggs are hatched, but it is said to be some time before the young 

 are able to run much. If disturbed at this time, the female displays her maternal 

 solicitude by shuffling along the ground as if wounded, so as to allure the intruder from 

 the vicinity of her young, who instantly hide themselves as well as they can, by squatting 

 close to the ground: having decoyed her dupe to a safe distance, she soon uses her 

 wings, and makes off, to return to her brood as soon as all is again safe. During the 

 period of incubation, the female loses much of her watchful shyness, and on one occasion 

 some years back, one actually suffered herself to be taken in a casting-net, which a farmer 

 threw over her. 



From several accounts it woidd appear that this magnificent bird is, without much 

 difficulty, domesticated; but we are not aware that it has ever bred in confinement. It 

 is greatly to be desired that some systematic attempts should be made to enlist this 

 valuable bird among our domesticated animals; if not, it must in time become almost, 

 if not quite, extinct in most of the countries where it is now found in plenty; just as 



