THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD. II 



smelling you (and though other sportsmen tell me that they 

 have not noticed this, I have found their scent just as keen as 

 an antelope's), you can easily get them driven over you, the only 

 difficulty being that they fly so low that, if you are in high 

 thick crops, they may pass within twenty yards or less without 

 your catching a glimpse of them, though you hear the heavy thuds 

 of their wings so loudly that you fancy they are just upon you. 

 At times, in parts of the country where these are in common 

 use by the whole population, you may shoot them with S. G. 

 shot off a camel, or again from a cart, as some people shoot 

 antelope ; but the only real sport is stalking them, and the 

 modern '36 bore express rifle is just the thing for this. 



They are very coarse feeders, and in the Punjab I have found 

 large lizards, desert rats, and all kinds of reptiles in their 

 stomachs, besides quantities of the young green shoots of the 

 lemon grass, of which they seem very fond. 



The flight is very heavy, though very powerful ; at a little dis- 

 tance they may be for a moment mistaken, when on the wing, 

 for Vultures. 



Several interesting notes on this species have been sent me, 

 some of which I reproduce, as collectively they give a better 

 general conception of the bird and its habits than could be 

 gathered from any single account. 



" The Great Indian Bustard," writes Mr. G. Sanderson, 

 " occurs somewhat plentifully throughout Mysore, in suitable 

 localities, viz., open plains in the vicinity of scrub jungles. I 

 have seen five feeding together, three commonly. I believe that 

 the Bustard in Mysore migrates. It is exceedingly wary. Its 

 note, usually uttered before daylight, is a booming cry, not 

 unlike a distant shout ; hence it is denominated in Canarese the 

 'bird that calls like a man' ( Arl-Koogina-Hnkki.) 



" The Bustard feeds in stubble fields and open plains till 

 about 10 A.M., as also in the afternoon. During the heat of the 

 day, it retires to low bush jungle. I have frequently shot 

 Bustard by having markers posted upon commanding 

 eminences within a circuit of three or four miles round their 

 feeding grounds. The particular habits of the birds are 

 generally well known locally, and when one has been marked 

 down after its return from its morning feed, it may generally be 

 walked up, within a few hundred yards of the place where it 

 alighted. In the scrub jungle, they frequently lie very 

 close, and must be carefully looked for. Before I was aware 

 of this peculiarity, I failed to find several birds. On one 

 occasion, a Bustard uttered its peculiar cry about twenty yards 

 behind me. It had walked out of a small bush which I had 

 passed within five yards, and uttered its note when standing 

 on the ground." 



" This species" (says Mr. G. Vidal) " is found very sparingly 

 in the eastern districts of the Poona and Satara Zillas. It 



