THE GREAT BUSTARD. 
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succeed in circumventing a flock. Good luck is the 
hunter’s best friend, though of course he must be fertile 
in resources and devices, so as to deceive the cautious 
quarry: he will disguise himself in female attire, with a 
basket on his back and rifle in hand, make as if he would 
walk straight past the flock until within shot, or he will 
hide himself from sight in a cart loaded with straw, and 
fire at the flock from between the trusses—as soon as the 
vehicle has approached near enough—with his so-called 
Bustard rifle, a weapon of great precision. Another mode 
is to lie hidden in the rape-fields, in a hut or covered 
hole which has been prepared during the previous seed 
time. Bustards are easiest shot from such huts, they 
having been prepared like those we have before described, 
as used for shooting Crows out of: the birds uncon¬ 
cernedly approach the grass-covered mound, returning 
again to the field, even after a shot has laid one or other 
of their number low, they, not having seen the sports¬ 
man, doubtless mistaking the shot for thunder. On the 
steppes of Eastern Europe—after a cold, rimy night, 
which encrusts the Bustard’s feathers with ice—this bird 
may be taken with greyhounds; so, at least, we are told. 
In Siberia, Bustards are captured with Falcons and 
trained Golden Eagles. 
