. A history of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . ts food, whichconsists principally of slugs, of which it destroys prodi-gious numbers ; it likewise feeds on worms and insecfts,as well as on seeds of various kinds. It is very commonin Ireland, and is seen in great numbers in the island ofAnglesea in its passage to that country. On its first ar-rival in England, it is so lean as to weigh less than sixounces, from which one would conclude that it must havecome from distant parts •, before its departure, however,it has been known to exceed eight ounces, and is thenvery delicious eati
. A history of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . ts food, whichconsists principally of slugs, of which it destroys prodi-gious numbers ; it likewise feeds on worms and insecfts,as well as on seeds of various kinds. It is very commonin Ireland, and is seen in great numbers in the island ofAnglesea in its passage to that country. On its first ar-rival in England, it is so lean as to weigh less than sixounces, from which one would conclude that it must havecome from distant parts •, before its departure, however,it has been known to exceed eight ounces, and is thenvery delicious eating. The female lays ten or twelveeggs, on a nest made of a little moss or dry grass care-lessly put together : they are of a pale ash colour, markedwith rust-coloured spots. The young Crakes are coveredwith a black down j they soon find the use of their legs,for they follow the mother immediately after they haveburst the shell. The foregoing figure was made from a living bird, forwhich the work is indebted to Lieut. H. F. Gibson. 2 0,2 Si a BRITISH GREAT BUSTARD.(Olis tarda, Lin.—LOutarde, Buff.) This very singular bird, which is the largest of ourland birds, is about four feet long, and weighs, fromtwenty-five to thirty pounds ; its chara6lers are peculiar,and with such as conne^l it with birds of the gallinaceouskind, it has others which seem to belong to the Ostrich^ a> BRITISH BIRDS, 311 and the Cassowary. Its bill is strong, and rather con-vex ; its eyes red ; on each side of the lower bill thereis a tuft of feathers about nine inches long; its head andneck are ash-coloured. In the one described by Ed-wards, there were on each side of the neck two nakedspots, of a violet colour, but which appeared to be cover-ed with feathers when the neck was much back is barred transversely with black and brightrust colour on a pale reddish ground j the quills areblack; the belly white : the tail consists of twenty fea-thers ; the middle ones are rust colour,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1800, bookidhistoryo, booksubjectbirds
