GREAT BUSTARD. 115 



also Switzerland ; it is likewise found in parts of Asia, namely, 

 in Syria. 



In some parts of Germany the Great Bustard is a very 

 common bird, and may be considered indigenous, although 

 scarcity of food, owing to the deep snow that sometimes lies 

 for a length of time, drives it to the milder parts, where such 

 a cause does not occur. This change of abode is more to 

 be called wandering than migrating, since the Great Bustard 

 does not leave its usual haunts at any stated period, nor 

 does the bird return later than when the snow disappears. 

 When the Great Bustards are forced to leave their usual 

 haunts, they usually collect in considerable flocks or droves ; 

 and the birds journey over hill and dale during the daytime, 

 at a very great elevation, without any order or regularity. 



The Great Bustard chooses for its locality, by preference, 

 extensive open plains, and avoids mountainous and wooded 

 districts. In fields of wheat and rye the bird is very likely 

 to be found, and in the autumn in large fields of rape and 

 turnips, which entice it to stay until the spring of the year. 

 Owing to the extreme shyness of this bird, it not only avoids 

 human habitations and wooded or enclosed lands, but even 

 single trees, gates, or any lonely object on the ground, unless 

 during the breeding season, when the birds are very restless, 

 and flying low over the ground, they pass close by such 

 dangerous objects carelessly. 



The Great Bustard is hid during the daytime in the 

 breeding season among the standing corn ; but when the 

 weather is wet it drives the bird to the open, fresh-ploughed 

 fields, where it remains among the furrows, always watchful 

 for its safety. The night is passed by the Bustards in the 

 most open situations ; and if nothing has disturbed them, 

 they return again and again to the same place. It is by their 

 soil that it is ascertained how each bird keeps its distance 

 from its neighbour, and that the younger birds are invariably 



