420 CURSORES. 



Sometimes they alight after flying a little distance, 

 and run off with considerable speed until they are 

 at a sufficient distance to defy pursuit. The female 

 and young generally conceal themselves by squatting 

 doMTi close among the tufts of brushwood and grass. 

 They feed on grain and seeds, and are very destruc- 

 tive to young wheat and tops of turnips. Insects 

 and worms also form a portion of their subsistence, 

 and sometimes they swallow small quadrupeds. The 

 females lay from two to five eggs on the bare 

 ground, under cover of the herbage. The .young, as 

 soon as they are excluded, follow their parent, but 

 for a long time are incapable of flying. 



The type of this sub -family, — 



The Great Bustard (Otis tarda), was formerly abundant 

 in many parts of this country, but is now quite extinct 

 in Britam. It occurs in Germany and France, and more 

 or less abundantly throughout Southern Europe, always 

 frequenting the wild and open parts of the country. The 

 Bustard is the largest of European land birds. The male, 

 when full grown, measures nearly four feet in length, and 

 about nine feet from tip to tip of the extended wings ; 

 its weight is on an average twenty-five pounds. The 

 female is smaller. The general colour of the plumage 

 of the upper surface is buff, with numerous delicate 

 transverse bars ; the lower surface is white, and the head 

 and neck are white with a greyish tinge. Bustards were 

 formerly hunted with dogs in our own island. On the 

 Continent they are now frequently shot with a rifle ; and 

 as they are very shy and wild, the sportsman has often 

 great difficulty in stalking them. The flesh, of the young 

 birds especially, is highly esteemed, and in many European 

 countries they are often seen in the markets for sale. 

 Bustards are polygamous, and the females lay two or three 

 eggs in a small hollow in the ground. Their food consists 

 partly of vegetable matter ; but, in addition to worms and 

 insects, they are said to kill and devour small quadrupeds 

 and reptiles. 



