CHAPTER XXX.

SOME FURTHER NOTES ON THE GREAT BUSTARD.

HIS NATURAL HISTORY AND HABITS.

Is the Great Bustard polygamous or not? We have watched these birds in early spring-time, following every movement, and at quarters close enough, with the binocular, to distinguish the very feathers: we have inquired of the best and keenest bustard-shooters on the Spanish plains--men who ought to know--and yet are unable to give a positive opinion. The best ornithological authorities are also silent on the point, or treat it in doubtful terms.

The Andalucian Bustards may be divided into two classes:--(1) Those which inhabit the undulating corn-lands extending from Jerez and Utrera eastwards--by Marchena and Osuña--to Bobadilla and the borders of Malaga province, which race is _stationary_ throughout the year; and (2) the Bustards of the marisma, or flat delta of Guadalquivir and other great rivers, which seasonally shift their ground.

The corn-land Bustards (as we will call them for distinction) are altogether a finer and heavier race than those of the marismas, scaling commonly twenty-nine, thirty, and thirty-one pounds--some huge old _barbones_ exceeding even this great weight; while birds of the semi-migratory race run from twenty-four to twenty-six or-seven pounds, rarely reaching twenty-eight, and show less of the magnificent ruff-development which, in spring, characterizes the old males of the campiñas of Jerez.

All the year round these latter are to be seen on the same grounds. During the months of February and March they are in bands of from five to fifty, males and females together, though some of the former already begin at early dawn to "show off" and to indulge in those ferocious-looking rehearsals preliminary--in appearance--to a pitched battle, but which always seem to end in smoke. Round and round, in slow majestic circles, revolve the rival _barbones_, each with trailing wings and tail expanded, fan-like, over his back, the bristling head carried low, the neck swollen out to abnormal thickness. Now, on that stately parade, they meet; the champions stand face to face--intent on mortal combat. One almost fancies one can hear the rustle as they shake out their wings and set every feather on end--each striving to daunt and demoralize his opponent by a display of apparent bulk. But the issue is disappointing; only on three or four occasions have we seen battle actually joined, and then the scuffle only lasted a few seconds.

It is, nevertheless, a magnificent spectacle to watch, perhaps, ten or a dozen of these huge game-birds, all "showing off" under the early rays of an April sun, and set off amidst the green corn and flower-spangled herbage--each as he slowly struts round, "echando la rueda," displaying alternately the swollen gorget and yellow-barred back, then the white underparts.

This state of affairs continues during March and into April; rehearsals, but no actions--at least we have seen none. The males really appear to show off rather one to another than to the females, which, though not far off, exhibit no more visible interest or concern than does our grey hen under similar circumstances. About the 20th of April the hen lays her two big greenish eggs amidst the growing corn, and disappears; but even this circumstance has no appreciable effect upon the other sex, who continue for weeks their complacent performances in spite of the fact that the females--for whose behoof these displays were presumably inaugurated--are no longer present to admire, as they have now commenced the duties of incubation.

During the earlier period of this courtship, and at the time when pairing presumably occurs, it is extremely rare to see a _single_ male associated with a circle of females--as is the case with black game. Each band is composed of mixed sexes, females preponderating. We have often seen _two_ males along with five or six females, but never _one_ alone; another band consists of three males and seven females; a third of five and thirteen; a fourth of ten and thirty, males and females respectively; but _none_, as just stated, are formed of a pair, or of a single male with his harem, as one would expect if the species were polygamous in the ordinary sense.

After incubation has commenced the males remain in separate packs during summer, and take no share in domestic duties.

Turning now to the Bustards of the _marisma_, we must first explain that there are no bustards in the marisma proper--_that_ is the home of the Flamingo. But here, for the sake of convenience, we include the whole of the plains, some pasturage, some arable, which, _together with_ the _marisma_ proper, form the delta of the Guadalquivir; and especially those parts known as the Isla Mayor and Isla Menor, so-called "islands" formed by the triple channel of that great river.

These "islands" comprise vast areas of level pasturage--in winter bare of herbage, almost dry mud, but by April, knee-deep in richest grass and vegetation, resonant with the "whit-ti-wit" of unnumbered quail. On these flowery plains are reared some of the choicest breeds of the fighting bull--those, for example, of the Marques del Saltillo--which may here be admired at leisure.

The first point in the life-history of these Bustards of the marisma is their semi-migratory character. We do not mean to infer more than that they are _locally_ migratory, shifting their ground according to season and food-supply, but not leaving the country or crossing any sea. Africa is the only country they could go to, but _Otis tarda_ appears to be unknown, or at any rate very scarce, in Morocco and Algeria. Their migrations are confined to Spanish territory. In the middle of May, while ibex-shooting, we have observed a flight of seven Bustards in the heart of the Sierra de Ronda, passing high over those lofty peaks.

On these plains there are Bustard of one sex _or_ the other (not always both) at all seasons. The males leave the pasturage for the corn in February and March, followed later by the females as the laying season approaches. Both sexes are then seen in mixed bands as above described--two or three up to a dozen males in each band composed of five or six times that number of females, but _never_ in single pairs or a single male consorting with a female retinue.

Here also we have enjoyed watching, at sunrise, the imposing performances of the males--often five or six bands in view at once,[65] but, as before, without detecting any specific action--nothing beyond "show."

The eggs are laid in the last week of April (we found two females, already sitting each on two eggs, on the 26th), and about mid-May the males disappear. To Africa they have gone, the local shooters aver; but this, we know, is not the case, and are far from sure that the missing males are not simply hidden amidst the vast stretches of corn, then near four feet high, pending their moult.

Bustards moult very severely, casting all quill-feathers (as wild geese do) almost simultaneously. Hence, at the end of May, they become for a time incapable of flight, and naturally, under such conditions, seek the utmost seclusion, perhaps deceiving people into the illusion that they had gone, when they are really simply in hiding, which the rank summer vegetation renders easy enough. After eggs are laid, the males certainly desert their mates entirely, forming themselves into bachelor coteries, and leaving to the female the entire burden of the nursery.

Bustards take two years or more to acquire maturity: the year-old males are hardly larger than adult females, possess neither ruff nor whiskers, and do not breed. They probably continue growing for three or four years, or even more. An old _barbon_, when winged and brought to bay, will turn and attack its aggressor, hissing savagely and uttering a low guttural bark, "Wuff! wuff!" Except on such occasions we have not heard any vocal sound from a Bustard; nor do they, when winged, ever attempt to escape by running.

Though the general habit of the Bustard is graminivorous--his food consisting of the green corn, both blades and shoots, of grain and green herbage of all kinds, yet in summer, when the corn is cut, he develops for a time a keenly carnivorous character, catching and swallowing whole the rats and mice which, at that season, swarm on the stubbled plain, as well as the young of ground-breeding birds, buntings, larks, &c. Nor is a reptile wholly despised--a small snake or green lizard is readily included in his menu, and at all seasons they are very fond of insects, especially grasshoppers and locusts.