little doubt that every now and then one fell to the gun, or
was caught in the-gin of a depredator, while the smaller
proprietors were by no means actuated by any feelings for
the perpetuation of thé stock, and a few of the larger ones
occasionally-wished to supply themselves or' their - friends
with specimens for their collections or even -for^ edible; purposes.
Not a thought of the extermination of - the species
seems to havé passed through their' minds. Either1 they
Were entirely indifferent about the matter, or else they believed
that since, as long as they could remembërythere had
always been Bustards on their brècks, therefore Bustards
there would always be. It is tö he remarked that" cock birds
are said to have' been comparatively1 ^scarce ; in this drove,'
three being thecmost that are spoken -toby any eye-witness,-
and, as has just been stated, when-the numbers of the« drove
were much diminished,- cocks were entirely wan’tiffgVH 'Ih.ese
observations probably refer to the old cocks,1 which so gréatly
surpass the hens - i-n^size1; for it must be remembered'that,
as is known through foreign observers, the ’ ünale'5 Bustard' is
several year#in attaining its Ml growth, and until-then^it
cannot be readily distinguished from the female!'at a distance1.”■
Very full particulars' are given by- Mr.VStévensónof-thé
specimens of birds and^ggs Obtained in Norfolk and Suffolk,
and iii1 tracing -their-history many ■details^ of ^the4-highest
interest-are -recorded; but5 space Will--not admit o f5 further
q u o ta tio n .TÊé finesf sëries-'of'Norfolk, or indeed-of British
®u stards, appears- to be in the- -collection' made, 'by - the late
Mr. Robert Elwes,’ of*-Congham--Houtte, near - Lynn. -?<As
regards, the -da.te.% of extirpation; it may be- added,? that
although 1838 is the 'probablev,'óhé^&/r:é'jare some persons
who believe that* a bird or twpflingered .to 1843 or 'even4845.
r In -Scotland, thé "Great Bustard- had-dong -been extinct;
and itfwas -probably*-a mere straggler from the Continent,
which was shot in Morayshire, in 18Ö3; -where another was
also- obtained,-as recorded by the -Rev. Mr. Gordon’iff* his
frEauna' of.-Moray.’-( As'frègards Ireland, it is-m'entiene'd^by
Smith, -in his ‘ History1 of -Cork/ in 1749-, buttheré-appears
to be no other evidence ofdts-‘èxistencet'in,4hatdsl,ands m
Although the Great Bustard had ceased to "be an indigenous
British species, stragglers from time to* time made
their appearance, and naturally,1 in the majority of cases,
were observed on the open*and u n cu ltiy a t^ fdistricts suited
to their habits. In* March, 1843,- a female was shot on
moorland between Helston and the Lizard; another, also a
hen-bird, was shot near St. Austell,-in January, 1854, and-r-
to "continue the list of occurrences in -Cornwall—yet a third
female was captured alive near Lobe, on the 12th December,
1879. One, believed by its -sizeito be a-female, was seen *on
Salisbury Plain b j Mrt G; R. Waterhouse, of rth e ^British
Museum, in the month o f1 August, 1849,5 when« returning to
Salisbury witfra ’party- of friends from a vSsit»to Stonehenge* ’
the- bird* being seen1 several times *on- the wing during an
interval of eight or-ten'minutes p/»259Q)y^- A second
bird,-.also-a female, was "shot-Sb January, I860'; at Lyd'd,
- in Romney>M4ysh; and -passed* into the possession of* Dr.
Plomley'fJSs&Y&p. 2 7 0 0) . The" third was* shot-on the" 31st
of December ƒ *b®Kl, at 'Bratton; Clovelly, in North-Devon,
ahd‘became the property’of Mr. J. G.--N#wt0n';'0f Millatoff
Bridestew^(Naturalist; 1862, p .;3 ||} . and on the 8th* of
February1 -1853; one-w-as killed in a turnip field- at Lees
Hill,-, rL?annercost, Cumberland, and came' into the possession
fof 1 Mr. Joseph" Mowbray,' at Brampton (Zool. p.
4407). * - 1 * ' : ' 1 « f t f l gLj&SE9|
'-On* ThuSid^y;*'January the 3rd; 1856, as a bqyy about
nine-years ro'f ^ge, was on his way'by'ther Salisbury-road,
from Hungerford,"in Berkshire; to a lone farm about a mile
off,* with biS" brothers' dinner at‘-twelve o’cfoek^he saw a
large- red bird on the-ground;-fluttering1 about near the edge
of a Apiece-of turnips.- He went clbse up to it, and observed
tbaMtShad a-broken''leg*; he tried-to layJ lrel^of^t; but-the
bird “ -peeked-at him; ^ b is ^ n g e f s ; and putiAfitbis great
wings.” -He caught-hbld of one of'them,■ and- dragged the
bird*- along the-ground :by it for nearly a quartet’of a mile*to
the* farm-, where* a farming man killed it for him; -by breaking
its -neck, that -the boy, as-be '-said; might' carry it'easier.
The boy saystdhe bird was quite clean when-he first ’saw it,