BRITISH BIRDS. 
3 
tawny, barred with black, the others are white, 
marked with a few irregular bands of black ; the 
legs are gray. The female is fmaller, and wants 
the black collar on its neck ; in other refpe&s fhe 
nearly refembles the male. 
This bird is very uncommon in this country; 
we have feen only two of them, both of which 
were females : Our figure was taken from one fent 
us by W. Trevelyan, Efq. which was taken on 
the edge of Newmarket Heath, and kept alive a- 
bout three weeks, in a kitchen, where it was fed 
with bread, and other things, fuch as poultry eat. 
Both this and the Great Bullard are excellent eat- 
ing, and, we would imagine, would well repay the 
trouble of domefiication ; indeed it feems furpri- 
fing that we Ihould fuffer thefe fine birds to run 
wild, and be in danger of total extinction, which, 
if properly cultivated, might afford as excellent a 
repafl as our own domeftic poultry, or even the 
Turkey, for which we are indebted to difiant coun- 
tries : It is very common in France, where it is 
taken in nets like the Partridge : It is a very fhy 
and cunning bird ; if dillurbed, it flies two or three 
hundred paces, not far from the ground, and then 
runs away much falter than any one can follow 
on foot. The female lays her eggs in June to the 
number of three or four, of a gloffy green colour ; 
as foon as the young are hatched, fhe leads them 
about as the hen does her chickens ; they begin to 
fly about the middle of Auguft. 
