By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 361 



they averaged in weight between 81bs. and 91bs., the heaviest scaling 

 at 131bs. and the lightest at 71b. lOoz. 



So much for the pack — if pack it was — that, in an evil hour for 

 themselves, came over to England. 



To come to our Wiltshire specimen, of which I am able to furnish 

 reliable details, as they have been communicated to me at first hand 

 by the obliging captor of the bird. It appears that on February 

 5th last (not on the 4th, as I at first erroneously stated) Mr. Wood 

 and his brother, of Langley Green, near Chippenham, being tempted 

 by the hard weather to go out in search of Wild Geese, of which they 

 had heard tidings, found themselves at 10 a.m., in Alington Mead, 

 on the banks of the Avon, behind Kelloways Mills, and about three 

 miles from Chippenham ; the wind blowing from the north-east. 

 Here they presently saw a large bird, which at first they supposed 

 to be a Wild Goose, flying towards them, down the wind, when both 

 brothers fired : the bird however, though evidently hard hit, did not 

 at once drop, but continued its flight : then they perceived it was no 

 goose, and on picking it up a little farther on found it to be a Great 

 Bustard, in excellent plumage, and, beyond a broken leg, very little 

 injured by the shot. Mr. Wood at once sent the bird for preservation 

 to Foot, the taxidermist, of Bath, in whose house it was seen in the 

 flesh by many persons, and who preserved the sternum. In reply co 

 my many enquiries Mr. Foot very courteously supplied me with all 

 the information he had as to the capture, and forwarded me a portion 

 of the contents of the crop, which appeared to consist of the leaves 

 of grass and other plants. Desiring, however, to obtain accurate 

 information on this point, I forwarded a small portion of the un- 

 digested leaves to Mr. Harting (Natural History Editor of the 

 Field), to Professor Newton, of Cambridge, and several other 

 authorities, not forgetting our own Wiltshire botanist, the Rev. 

 T. A. Preston. Professor Newton at once forwarded his portion to 

 Mr. Southwell, the well-known ornithologist, of Norfolk, who is at 

 once a botanist, and has no little acquaintance with the habits of the 

 Great Bustard. Mr. Southwell conferred on the matter with a 

 botanical friend of some eminence, Mr, H. D. Geldart, and the 

 result of their examination was given as follows : " The leaves sent 



