but that anything like real and successful Bustard coMsing
was ever habitually pursued, is open to doubt, in spite of the
statement, dated 1656, already quoted (p. 196)*# However,
in ‘Thé Naturalist’s Pocket Magazine, or Compleat Cabinet of
Nature ’ (1799-1800) is the following:—-“ But though they
cannot be reached by a fowling-piece, they are. .sometimes
run down by greyhounds. Being voracious and greedy, they
often sacrifice their safety to their appetites; - and -as they
are generally very fat, they are unable to fly without much
preparation ; when therefore the greyhounds come within'a
certain distance the Bustards run off, clap their wings, and
endeavour to gather under them enough air to rise; in the
meantime, the dogs are continually gaining ground, till at
last it is too late for flight. However/-notwithstariding'dihe
sluggishness of their usual pace, they can,-' when in danger,
run very fast, and once -fairly on the wing, - are "able to fly
several miles without resting.| These/or similar statements,
have been popularized by Bewick^B^eli^kno^n-woodcut- of
the Great Bustard being* chased by a horsëinan and^a greyhound,
and are the source of %lhe»~bèfejf rentertainé$-*hy
many, that this kind?©# sport was pursued byfour-ancesfors.
That Bustards havé -on rare occasions been' found- at daybreak
So benumbed by . a frost following'ëh-’a heavyj dew,*as
to.be unabl'è- to fly with ease, seems entitled to belief.
Bustards*-have on many occasions -been^képt dn confinement,
but as yet they have seldom been known to breed in that
state. The late Miv Glorié :Lïardy/%h©'was héusè-
teethe Norfolk and Norwich' Hospital, between-^l?798 and
1826, appears, from-the. entries in his journal, to hav'ére-
ceived at various times a/g©bi|! many eggs, which.»- he placed
under a hen ; hè 'also deceived more than one "male bird, and
it* is remembered-by'Mr. G@S/ ,Eett, ’ a -former treasurer 'bf
the ' hospital, that he had- -three or four .bird’s-»alive in an
enclosure ;'-*hut >as to- the' actual breeding hi^Wén'Hhe hatching
out of any of- these particular -birds,* there' sêem-S tb^he
no direct evidence. In Tyrol, however-, -Dr. Althammer
records an instan‘qe*(“Bull. ^Shd-Imp. AccMns. 1861, p. 818)v
of three eggs being laid in August, 1860, upon which the
hen-bird sat, and after twenty-five days’ incubation one young
one was hatched. • A male bird which Lord Lilford received
alive from the "-Continent, and which he kept for- more than
four years, is described as exceedingly bold and tame, approaching
any one who-Entered the-aviary quite fearlessly,
making a curious guttural noise. He ate mice, raw meat,
worms, snails, wheat, barley/ turnip-tops, lettuce and grass,
and lived amicably with other birds.
As regards the 7 presence of the* much discussed gular
pouch in the male Bustard, the following was communicated
by the late Professor A. Garrod, Prosector to the Zoological
Society,r;f6: Mr. H. @ Dresser, for ‘ The Birds- of ^Europe,’
and by his permission is here reproduced
“ The different points- connected with th$ question as to
the'hxistence or non-existence of a gular pouch in Otis tar-da
have excited a degree of attention and a diversity of opinion
which can only be accounted for-'by the' difficulty that there
is in this coupify of obtaining" a' sufficient number of specimens
for- examination. ' Several authorities have*reberded
their very* contradictory*'resultsand Professor NewtoFs
excellent and exhaustive summary (Ibis-, 1862, p. 107) left
the question as undecided as ever. Dr. W. H. Cullen, of
Kustendji’e, in Bulgaria/ -wa's fled ’from Professor Newton s
remarks' to re-ekamihe the point; and in the two specimens
of the FM'which he dissected, the pouch was well developed?/
He- communicated -his' results, with drawings-, to ‘ The-IbiS
(1865/ p. 148)-; and Professor Flower has also examined
andIdesdribed Ms specimens (P. Z ^ h l8 6 5 , p. 747f/ Dr.
Murie has further -verified the existence of a gular pouch in
an adult specimen which belonged to the -Zoological Society
of London; and a very'£©bd"'sklfch of■ the open mouth
accompanies his paper. The same author also proved the
existence of R similarly situated, but smaller, pouch "in Otis
kori; and he shows’tKkf' the habits 6f-Ot%s mist/ndhs-dender
it* certain that in that'bird the same structure is ails© largely
developed. Through the- kindness‘of Lord Lilford I ha^e
had the opportunity^#* examining a specimen taken from »a
Spanish example ^O ti/ta rd d ; in -which' the very capacious