167

BUSTARD.

Tis noble and valuable bird was formerly met with
in no inconsiderable numbers in this country, and even
until recently a few used occasionally to be met with.
in the county of Norfolk, and in Lincolnshire, on Salisbury
Plain in Wiltshire, and the wolds of Yorkshire. Now
it is totally extinct, although a single specimen may
from time to time be met with; for though so large
and bulky a bird, the bustard has very considerable
powers of flight, and can easily fly over to us from the
Continent.

The colour of the bustard is on the upper parts a
fine orange buff, barred with numerous transverse markings
of black; the breast is white, with a tinge of yellow
on the middle part. The tail is white at the base, which
passes into yellowish brown, with one or two black bars.
There is a long tuft of bristly feathers on each side of
the lower bill, and the fore part of the neck is destitute
of feathers, the skin being of a bluish black colour.
“The male bustard weighs from twenty-five to thirty
pounds, and measures about three feet three inches in
length. The female seldom exceeds one-third of the size
of the male.

Grain, various grasses, the tender leaves and sproust
of turnips, insects, worms, frogs, etc., constitute their
food. In the adult male there exists a membranous
pouch beneath the skin on the fore part of the neck,
having an entrance to it under the tongue. It is of
considerable size, being capable, according to Pennant,
of containing seven pints of water: it has indeed been