2 0 8 igggÉHg '
Tuesday she was found dead in a ditch. On the 21st jFebruary,
Lord Lilford sent another hen: it was a very stormy
day, so I dared not turn her out after the fate .of 'No. 1, but
shut her up in a little hut of hurdles and straw, which . I had
had built for No. 1, but which, she would not take advantage
of. The next morning the male wasmot far from the- hut,
and the. keeper went down to let the female out, but he flew
away. In the afternoon he.passed'over the field, but did hot
alight, and went on to Stockwold; .thence to Eriswell and
Elveden, where he was seen in . the park. This is * the last
place wheré I. can hear any .tidings1 of him ” .(Zool. s.s.
p. 4882).* * On thé 29th March of the; same year a Bustard,
weighing 9|lbs., was' shot near Strohsay, in Orkncf‘j^i'Thp
Field,’ April 8th, 1876).
In the winter of T879-1880, besides -the Bustard already
noted as obtained in Cornwall, on© was recorded fromlJefSey,
one froM Essex, one from'Cambridgeshire, and une from
Dorsetshire, all females; also three from Kent, one of which
was a male weighing 16 lbs. A similiar .visitation »occurred
in the northern and central provinces of France (Zdoh 18.80,
p; 252), and was attributed by the naturalists and sportsmen
of that country td the inclement weather which 'prévailedtat
that season;'
-. I •'The; Great .Bustard is now, a .rare :strag^ï«r-io frhegsouthérn
portions of Sweden, whére-dt was formerly.a partial resident,
and its occurrences in Denmark, Holland, and .Belgium are
merely accidental; but* in Northern and- Central: Germany,
especially on'opèm plains, such as theses aboüt?Léipsic, ifei^
stiff a resident, excepting in‘ severe wintersy ;In;jFran@e;H.ts
head-quarters usedffo be in the province of Champagne,'hut
the Editor has recentlyrbeem informed -.that as a .resident
species it is mow extirpated, .although- examples .are annually
obtained in Hhe ^‘country. In theSpanish Peninsula the
Great Bustard is- still*'abundant.'in suitable Localities,-and
Mr.-꣒ A.vNMelson; of’Balrathl Kells, My Meath, hah.con-
tributed the following'details
* A more detailed.aeco'un.t, by Messrs. Hartjng and Upchej;, apd illustrated by
woodfcutlf, appeared in ‘ Kfe Fièld ’'of '^nr8M,"T87o/U
* “ You will perhaps be interested by the following few re- -
marks on the habits of the Great Bustard, as observed by
mé in the neighbourhood of Seville, where they exist in
large numbers.
I The males bègin to arrive in the cultivated part of the
country at the beginning of February ; they come in flocks,
varying from seven to fifty-three, the smallest and largest
numbèrs I have -seén together at that season of the year;
Thé djd birds always go "together thbse of a year old, which
are much smaller, never mix with them. The young birds
have neither béard nor pouch.'
' à^|Ke; females do not arrive'tiff'the -beginning of April,
and come singly, of at móst in pairs : as sooiFas they arrive
the flocks of males bègin to break up, and after about three
weeks yèf' seldom meet more than three or-four old males
together, they being very frequently-tm? be met with singly.
At thiS time,, on a-fine day, they spread their tails like -Tur-
key:cocks, drooping their wings and expanding théir pouchësi
Being perfectly white under the Hall,’they-canbe seen at a
great distance while in this attitude ; I have, however, never
seen a female -near a-edck, as apparently they 4iV© qb-ite
separate. During the month of May the cocks entirely
disappear from ;the%U'ltivated lands-, leaving the hens behind
them; they,'Fhav© ©very reason -to -believe, gd down to tlie
extensiVë grass marshes which stretch âlôngffhe banks of the
Guadalquivir.’- Thé young Bustards are hatched in the.large
corn plains about'Seville, and’are able’®” take care of themselves
when the corn is cut in July. At the end of that
month, when aff thë-cbrrnis' cut and no cover remains,-tM
young birds and hens ■ fdîlcé thb cocks toHhe mwrTsma;-as
they call thêse-greàt -marshes ih'-Spain. I
birds are very difficult to* shoot, and many a long
day I -have ""spent without any sûécesb in hunting -them
about. 9 Thé only chance isHo hide in a ravine-or ditch, and
send-men who know the country round the birds to 'try and
drivé them over you. They sometimes succeed in this, but
not very often. The heaviest bird I shot'weighed 28dFsr;
this was before the hens came, which may perhaps . account
lllllls III. • E E'.