The Dickinson press., 1888-04-07
BIRD OF THE STEppE.
HOW THE BUsTARD is TAKEN BY
RUSSIAN HUNTERS.

RUSSIAN HUNTERS.
Peculiar Habits of q Cunning Member of
the Ostrich Family-The Strange Disa-
bility Which Renders 1t al Easy Cap
tive-Helpless Victims.
The drarhwt-as Russians call the bustard
is IL true bird of the steppc. High grounds
have no attractions for it. and so long as the
weather is open it scorns the shelter of reed
and underwood. camping out. like Il vcritablc
nomad, on the bare Stcppe, and nesting in
the open, where it can find plenty Of grass;
OF which, by the way. it can eat enormous
quantities. Towards the middle of NoNem-
ter Il great proportion Of the birds migrate
aud do not return until the end of March;
but large numbers remain behind and wintcr
iii the more >outlcrly parts of Russia, in til,
region stretching from the Dnci,ter and
Dneiper right away to the Don and even the
Iral. Why So many of the birds should TO-
sist the migratory instinct when their fcl-
lows wing their way to warmer countries. is
IL question which ornithologists have vet to
settle
Bustards are not grcgariou, birds. Rarely
are more than ten or twelve of them to br
found i'll any one lm'ality. Onthcotlicr hand,
the creature is neither uualrclsomc nor com
hative: it is not given to fighting ut pairing
time as other fowls are. Moreover, it is an
extremely cunning bird, and knows Utmost To
II nicely how far IL fnwling piece will carry.
\. farmer and n farmers wagon may come
within u dozen feet of its nest, and il will
take no notice of either. Let II sportsman
show himself in the distance, and it is ont of
range i'll an instant. There are ordinarily
only two ways of bringing dow your bird.
One is to hide in u hay wagon and drive
within range: the other to obtain II pipe
made out of the gristly winlpire of an OK.
lie down in the long grass, and initiate the
call of n hen bustard. The male is Il very
uxorious creature, and cannot resist the cry
of its mate.
In winter the birds are found associated in
larger numlcrs-as man as eighty or IL hun
bred together. But this does not arise from
any desire for compaI.ionship, nor nave III"
fowls any common purpose I" serve IN i"
associating. 1t is due to the simple fact tia,
the area within which food is to I've had lm-
comes more and more cirrumscribe.l as the
weather gets colder. And it is to he observed
that the parties composing the flock never
minglc. If from any cause such Il body.
GlShhr vi % W ~ i''i.. II
will instantly breal, up into three on four dis
tinct troops, in which every individual APP
pears to know its place. If. AGAIN. ore Of
these smaller divisions of twenty or thirty
he pursued. the birds will Sepalat. into par
ties of ten or twelve, each batch making off
in a different direction.
A TRANG DISABILITY.
In ordinary winter weather the birds take.
shelter beneath the nearest underwood or
brush. and at such tila"s the hunter may
look in vain for tho Lu>iard. Iut with an
exceptionally strong frost. ora ""l | snap last
ing more than n couple" al days. comes the
sportsnan's opportunity. Then tho poor
creature fails an easy p1Sf TO its enemies. for
mt such times it is subject To Il strange ,lis;,-
bilitv. The feathers of its wing, freeze. !;
covering of ice forms over them. and tie
bird is unable to ria". During the night the
heavy hoar frost that prevails during rxt.I,-
%tionally cold weather in Russia settle, on and
in the wing feathers. binding them together.
In this condition the bird seeks the ",nn. and
passes its beak through the trrl"n liniun, tn
free them from the Ice. But il the heavy
frost continue u night and Il ,lav. or tho. bird
he prevented from leaving the brush To free
itself from The incumllancr. all is over witt,
it. The icr crystals still form upon and over
power its wings; the bird sinks from over
fatigue and cold, and the fox and wolf. al
ways OH the watch for this opportunity, find
the bustard an easy prey.
Aware of this, the h,lstard hunters know
exactly what to do and when t" look for
their quarry. When an unusually severe
spell of cold sets in, OF II very keen hoar
frost lasts more than IL day or so, they make
their preparations. Horses are carefully
rough shod, for the sport is pursued on horse
back, and the ground is us smooth and
slippery as IL piece of ice. Then in the morn.
ing, not too early, the lmrty-four. five ul
six stlong-starts. Each one goes armed
with a whip having a stout llandl" and a
couple of lassurs: firearms are not needed.
The most promising feeding grounds in the
neighborhood are. of course. known to the
sportsmen, and they make for the covrl
nearest to these places. Now they beat the
underwood and brush, hallooing and crack.
ing their whips. The frightened birds rlsl,
out and try to make for the open. But the
weight of their frozen wings presses then
down: the feathers are covered with ice
they can neither rise nor rui. They just
waddlc here IL there in II helpless %ungainl,
fashion. Crack. crack. go the whips; unt
the birds nearest the horscmcn fall right ant
Hlt. INSTANTLY kllIeu ny u ucAtcfoi' bloW OF
the head with the whip stock. Out fly thu
lassos, and more distant birds are ~strugglin;
i'll the moose. Where four, five or six person
take part in such n hunt, II few minutes sui
flee to dispatch a fairly large number of bus
tards; and then a move is made to frcsl
ground.
The bustard, it is curious to note, is IL.
only bird of the stcppe that is liable to tli
freezing of the pinion feathers in sever
weather: but ducks are often found on tn
larger rivers frozen to the ice by their legs
st. James Gazette.