The Bustard, huge Rasor, with gular pouch long,
With legs formed for running, and beak that is strong,
Whose presence this island regards now as rare.
_Jennings's Ornithologia._
This bird is of the same order as the Dodo (the gallinaceous, cock or
pheasant), figured and described at page 311. There are seventeen
species, which form the genus _Otis_ of Linnaeus. They are natives of
Europe, Asia, and Africa. Their characteristics are--bill strong, a
little incurvated; toes, three before, none behind; legs long, and
naked above the knees. The specimen here figured is the _Great
Bustard_, or Tarda, said to be the largest of British birds, sometimes
weighing as much as thirty pounds. It is found in some parts of this
country, and inhabits also the open plains of Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Its colour is wave-spotted with black, and rufous; beneath,
white; length, four feet; female not so large, weighing about twelve
pounds: she has also different shades of colour. The male has a long
pouch, (_see the Cut_), beginning under the tongue, and reaching to
the breast, capable of holding several quarts of water--supposed to be
for supplying the hen while sitting on the young. The cheek-feathers
are elongated, so as to form on each side a sort of mustachio. It
subsists on grains and herbs; it also feeds on worms and insects, and
according to late observations, on rats and field-mice;[6] is
solitary, shy, and timid; flies heavily, but runs swiftly; is quick of
sight and hearing; lays two, pale, olive-brown eggs, with darker
spots, in a hole scraped in the ground. In autumn Bustards are
gregarious, when they leave the open downs for more sheltered
situations. The eggs are eagerly sought after, for the purpose of
hatching under hens: they have been reared thus in Wiltshire. As they
are very valuable birds, and eagerly sought after, they are scarce.
Mr. Jennings doubts whether they still exist in Wiltshire; but, from a
paper lately read before the Linnaean Society, by Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear, it appears that Bustards now breed in the open parts of
Suffolk and Norfolk: they have, too, been domesticated by Mr. Hardy,
of Norwich.[7] Mr. Jennings, in a note to the lines above quoted,
observes, "There were formerly great flocks of Bustards in this
country, upon the wastes and in woods, where they were hunted by
greyhounds, and easily taken. They have been latterly recommended to
be bred as domestic fowls; and, to those who desire novelty, the
Bustard seems to be peculiarly an object for propagation. The flesh is
delicious; and it is supposed that good feeding and domestication
might stimulate them to lay more eggs." We were aware that the Bustard
was formerly eaten, and remember their mention among the delicacies of
chivalric feasts, and in the bills of fare at civic banquets:
probably, they are on the Guildhall table at the moment we are
writing--on Lord Mayor's Day.
[6] Shaw's Zoolog. Lectures, vol. i. 1809.
[7] Ornithologia, p. 206.
[Illustration: _The Great Bustard._]
Among the other species of Bustards are the Little, or Field, and the
thick-kneed, Stone-curlew, or Norfolk Plover. There are also some fine
species in India, where they are generally in pairs, but sometimes in
families of four and five: as they do not fly high, they are sometimes
pursued on horseback, and fired at with pistols. A young hen makes a
particularly fine dish at table: the flesh of the breast is full of
triangular cavities.[8] The Bustard accordingly bears a high price in
the Indian markets: in some districts it is called the florikan.
[8] Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 517.
The Bustard is stated to have been known to descend suddenly from its
flight, and from some unknown caprice, to attack a horse and its rider
with great violence; and with such blind fury as to suffer itself to
be seized by the traveller rather than attempt an escape. Two
instances of this kind are recorded in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of
about the year 1807.
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