THE HOUBARA. 19 



or beetle, and now a tiny land-shell or stone, but living chiefly 

 as a vegetarian, and never with us, to judge from the hundreds 

 I have examined, feeding on lizards, snakes, and the like, as the 

 Great Bustard certainly does, and the African Houbara is said 

 to do. 



The Houbara greatly prefers running to flying, and when 

 the weather is not too hot, will make its way through the 

 labyrinth of little bushes which constitute its home at a really 

 surprising pace. So long as the cover is low, its neck and body 

 are held as low as possible, but as soon as it gets where it 

 thinks it cannot be seen, it pulls up, and raising its head as 

 high as possible, takes a good look at its pursuers. Not unfre- 

 quently it then concludes to squat, and though you may have 

 been, unobserved, watching it carefully, whilst it was only watch- 

 ing others of the party coming from an opposite direction, it 

 becomes absolutely invisible the moment it settles down at the 

 foot of a bush or stone. Once it has thus settled, especially 

 if it is hot and about noon, you may walk past it within ten 

 yards without flushing it, if you walk carelessly and keep 

 looking in another direction. 



But it is weary work trudging on foot, under an Indian sun, 

 after birds that run as these can and will, and in the districts 

 where they are plentiful, people always either hawk them or 

 shoot them from camels. 



Off a camel, a large bag is easily made, and as, whilst after 

 these Bustards, you get from time to time shots at Antelope or 

 Ravine-deer, Quail, Partridges, and, on rare occasions, a Great 

 Bustard also, it is not bad fun, though rather monotonous, like 

 the scenery that surrounds one. 



Taking the camel at a long, easy, six-miles-an-hour trot, 

 across one of those vast wildernesses they affect, you will 

 not be long before, raised high up as you are on camel- 

 back, you catch sight of one or more Houbara feeding amongst 

 the bushes. To them camels have no evil import ; everybody 

 uses them ; none but the veriest pauper walks, every one rides, 

 and rides camels. The peasant going out to plough his field 

 rides on one camel and puts his plough on the other, which, with 

 its nose-string fastened to the tail of the one he rides, trots 

 along complacently behind. When, therefore, the Houbara see 

 you coming along on a camel, they only move a little aside, so as 

 to be out of your line of march, and you at once begin to des- 

 cribe a large spiral round them, so that, while appearing al- 

 ways to be passing away from them, you are really always clos- 

 ing in on them. Sometimes, if the time be early or late, or if 

 the day be cold or cloudy, long before you are within shot, they 

 start off running, and if you press them further, ultimately take 

 wing, flying heavily, and soon re-alighting and running on, never, 

 so far as I have seen, taking the long flights that the Great 

 Bustard does, and never fluttering and skylarking in the air 



