53 
O 1 
is covered with fnow, they feed cn the bark of trees; 
and, at all times, they fwallow fmall hones, or even bits 
of metal, like the oftrich. The academicians of Paris, 
on opening the llomach of one of the great buftards, 
found it filled partly with ftones, fome of which were of 
the fize of a nut, and partly with doubloons, to the num¬ 
ber of ninety, all worn and polifhed where they were ex- 
pofed to the attrition, but without the leaft appearance 
of erofion. Willughby found in the llomach ol tliefe 
birds, which were killed in the harveft-feafon, three or 
four grains of barley, with a large quantity of hemlock- 
feed ; which’ indicates a decided preference, and {hows 
that thefe feeds would make the belt bait for enfnaring 
them. 
The liver is very large; the gall-bladder,, the pancreas, 
the number of pancreatic du&s, their infection, and that 
of the hepatic and cyftic dufts, are liable to fome varia¬ 
tion in different fubjefls. In'the pairing feafon, the male 
ftruts round the female, and fpreads his tail into a fort of 
wheel. The eggs are not fo large as thofe of a goofe ; they 
are of a pale-olive green, fprinkled with fmall dark fpots, 
in which refpecl their colour bears a great refemblance to 
that of the plumage. This bird, however, does not build 
a neft, but only fcrapes a hole in the ground, and drops 
into it two eggs, which it hatches in thirty days. When 
the anxious mother dreads the vifitsof the fportfmen, Ihe 
takes her eggs under her wings, and tranfports them to 
a fafe place. She commonly chooles fields of corn in the 
ear, from an inftindt which prompts all animals to bring 
forth their young in fituations that fupply the proper 
food. Klein pretends that fhe prefers oats, as having the 
Ihortefl llalks; and that, while Ihe fits on her eggs, her 
head isfo elevated as to glance along the plain, and no¬ 
tice what is going forward. But this affection agrees nei¬ 
ther with the general opinion of naturalifts, nor with the 
inltinft of the great buftard, which, as it is wild and 
timid, muff feek for fafety rather by concealing itfelf in 
tall corn, than by over-topping it, in order to obferve 
the fportfman at a diltance, and incur the danger of be¬ 
ing itfelf difcovered. She fometimes leaves her eggs in 
quell of food ; and if, during her Ihort abfence, one 
handle or even breathe on them, it is laid that fhe per¬ 
ceives it on her return, and abandons them for ever. 
The great buftard, though a very large bird, is excef- 
fively timorous, and feems neither confcious of its 
ftrength, nor animated by the fpirit of exerting it. Some¬ 
times they affemble to the number of fifty or lixty; but 
they gain as little confidence from their multitude as 
from their ftrength or their fize : the llighteft appearance 
of danger, or rather the leaft novelty, alarms them; and 
they can hardly provide for their fafety, but by flight. 
Dogs they dread moll, efpecially as greyhounds are often 
ufed to hunt them ; but they are alfo afraid of the fox, 
the polecat, and every other animal, however fmall, 
which has courage to attack them. They {brink from 
the fierce animals, and even from the birds of prey. So 
daftardly they are, that, though only flightly hurt, they 
die through fear, rather than from the efleCl of their 
wounds. Yet Klein affects that they are fometimes irri¬ 
tated, and inflate a loofe Ikin which hangs below the 
neck. If we believe the ancients, the great buftard has 
no lefs affe&ion to the horfe than antipathy to the dog. 
As foon as the timorous bird perceives that noble animal, 
it flies to meet him, and generally places itfelf under 
his feet. If we admit this fympathy between fuch 
different animals, we might explain the faft, by faying, 
that the great buftard finds in horle-dung fome grains 
of corn that are half-digefted, and which prove a re- 
fource when prefled by hunger. 
When it is hunted, it runs exceedingly fall, and fome¬ 
times proceeds feveral miles without the leaft interrup¬ 
tion. But, as it takes wing with difficulty, and never at¬ 
tempts to rife but when favoured by the wind, and as it 
cannot perch, on account of its weight, or by reafon of 
the want of a hind toe, with which it might cling on a 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1223. 
’ I s. 
branch and fupport-itfelf; we may admit, on the tefti- 
mony of both the ancients and moderns, that it can be 
caught by greyhounds. It is alio' chafed by a bird of 
prey ; or nets are fpread, into which it may be decoyed 
by leading out a horfe, or by merely difguiling one’s felf 
in a horie’s Ikin. Every kind of fnare, how artlefs fo- 
ever, mull fucceed, if it be true, asiElian affirms, that, in 
the kingdom of Pontus, the foxes attract them by lying 
on the ground, railing their tail, and moving it like the 
neck of a bird: the buftards, he fays, miltake this object 
for one of their own fpecies, advance to it without hefi- 
tation, and become the prey of the iniidious animal. But 
this implies much fubtlety in the fox, much ftupidity in 
the buftard, and perhaps more credulity in the writer. 
The great buftard is found in Lybia, near Alexandria, 
according to Plutarch ; in Syria, in Greece, in Spain, in 
the Netherlands and Germany ; in the Ukraine and Po¬ 
land ; where, according to Rzacynfki, it paffes the win¬ 
ter in the midll of the lnovv. Pennant affirms, that thefe 
birds leldom leave the place where they were bred, and 
that their greatell excurfions never exceed twenty or 
thirty miles; but Aldrovandus afferts that, towards the 
end of autumn, they arrive in flocks in Plolland, and 
limit their haunts to the fields remote from cities and in¬ 
habited places. Linnaeus fays, that they travel into Hol¬ 
land and England. Ariftotle alfo mentions their migra¬ 
tions ; but the caufe of their variations in this impulfe of 
nature, requires to be afcertained by more accurate ob- 
fervations. What appears moll certain is, that the great 
buftard is but rarely found in mountainous or populous 
countries; as in Swifferland, Tyrol, Italy, &c. and that, 
when this does occur, it happens generally in the autumn 
and winter. But, though it can live in cold countries, 
and, according to fome authors, is a bird of paffage, it 
would feem that it never has migrated into America, or 
farther north than Sweden and Rulfia ; or fouth, than 
Greece or Syria. It abounds in the deferts of Tartary, 
and is folitary, except at the times of migration, when 
they unite into fiiiall flocks. 
As late as the year 1750, thefe birds are faid to have 
been feen in great plenty in England, annually vifiting 
the large open downs of Dorfetftiire and Wiltlhire, par¬ 
ticularly Salilbury-plain, and the wolds of Yorkfhire; 
but they are now very rarely feen with us ; and in Scot¬ 
land they are laid to be quite txtinft. In France, they are 
obferved to arrive and retire regularly in the fpring and 
autumn, in fmall flocks ; but they feldom halt, except on 
the moll elevated fpots. In this country, fays Mr. Mon¬ 
tagu, (Supplement to his Ornithological Dictionary,) 
they have decreafed fo rapidly within thefe twenty years, 
that, in a few years more, not a vellige of them will remain 
in thefe realms. “ The lhepherds. with whom we have 
converfed lately, declare they have not feen one in their 
moll favourite haunts, upon the extenfive downs of Wilt- 
fliire, for the laft two or three years, where we have often 
contemplated this noble bird with fo much pleafure, and 
regarded them as an objeft well worth every attempt to 
cultivate in their native plains; for all the artful means 
tried to keep and domellicate them, fo as to procure in- 
creafe, have proved abortive. The length of their days is 
fo reduced in that Hate, that few have exceeded two or 
three years, and have never Ihewn any inclination to breed.” 
This we think is much to be lamented, for the reafons 
we have given under c the article Ornithology, in the 
preceding volume, p. 779. Obfervers, ancient and mo¬ 
dern, agree that the flelh of the buftard is 1 excellent. 
That of the young ones, after being kept a Ihort time, 
is remarkably delicate ; yet Hippocrates forbids perfons 
fubjeCt to the falling ficknefs to tafte it. Pliny recom¬ 
mends the fat of the buftard to allay the pain in the 
brealls after child-birth. Capt. Flinders remarks, of a 
buftard Ihot at Sweer’s Ifland in Terra Aullralis, “ the 
flelh of this bird is diftributed in a manner direClly con¬ 
trary to that of the domeftic turkey, the white meat be¬ 
ing upon the legs, the black upon the breaft.” Voyage 
