EUSTARD. 
63 
of the head brown ; lower part of the neck before ash-coloured, in other 
respects like the male, except in not having the long tuft of feathers 
growing from each side of the lower mandible, so conspicuous in that 
sex when arrived at maturity. 
The male has also a very capacious pouch, situated along the fore 
part of the neck, the entrance of which is under the tongue, capable of 
holding several quarts of water ; it is said not less than seven. The 
size, however, of this pouch, or bag, seems to be somewhat exag- 
gerated, for we think it impossible the bird could fly with such an 
addition of weight before its wings, which would throw it out of the 
centre of gravity. We see the heron, and many other birds, obliged 
to extend their legs behind, and contract their necks when flying, in 
order to balance themselves on the wing. Seven quarts of water are 
nearly equal to fourteen pounds weight, and certainly more than the 
bird could carry in that situation. The pouch, however, is large, as 
may be seen in the Leverian Museum. This, however, is only dis- 
coverable in adults, as it is most likely intended for the purpose of 
furnishing the female and young, in the breeding season, with water, 
which, in general, is only to be procured at a distance, upon the dry 
and extended downs they inhabit. 
The Bustard is only found upon the large extensive plains, and is 
almost extinct, except upon those of Wiltshire, where it is become 
very scarce within these few years. It is an extremely shy bml, and 
difficult to be shot. Young ones have frequently been taken by the 
shepherds’ dogs before they are capable of flight ; and their eggs are 
eagerly sought after for the purpose of hatching under hens. Half-a- 
guinea is no unusual price for an egg, and ten or twelve guineas a pair 
for young birds not full grown. A person at Tilshead, contiguous to 
the downs in Wiltshire, has reared a great many in this way ; and the 
consequence will be a total extinction in a few years. 
In 1813 we were informed by the shepherds that they had not been 
seen for the last two or three years in their favourite haunts, on the 
Wiltshire downs, where we have often contemplated this noble bird with 
pleasure, regarding them as an object well worthy of every attempt to 
cultivate in their native plains, since every attempt to domesticate them 
had proved abortive. In a state of domestication the length of their 
days is so reduced, that it seldom exceeds two or three years, and they 
never have shewn any inclination to breed. * Selby informs us that his 
enquiries lead him to the conclusion that the breed is now entirely 
extinct. In 1804 one was shot and taken to Plymouth market, where 
