418 Mr. E. P. E-amsay on Australian Oology. 



collections, although the birds themselves are by no means scarce. 

 On the borders of Lake Bathiirst and Lake George, on the 

 Goulburn and Sass Plains, and other places suited to their 

 habits. Bustards are still to be found, although they have long 

 since become almost extinct within a hundred miles of Sydney. 

 Always wary, these birds are difficult to approach, a great deal 

 of manoeuvring and stalking being necessary to obtain a suc- 

 cessful shot. On horseback, or in a light vehicle, they are more 

 easily approached. 



During August and the three following months the Bustards 

 betake themselves in pairs to the thinly-wooded districts for the 

 purpose of breeding, returning to the plains and more open land 

 in December, when they associate in small flocks of from five to 

 ten in number. On very hot days they may with more certainty 

 be found on the edges of the plains, in the shade of the trees, 

 returning again in the evenings to their favourite feeding-grounds 

 on the slopes and hillsides. 



During the winter, they are found more often on the slopes 

 among the trees, sheltered from the wind and snow. 



On the 8th of March, 1866, while at Lake George"^, three 

 young Bustards, about the size of a large domestic fowl, were 

 seen together. Although on the same flat there were several 

 old birds, they never accompanied them ; and I have been in- 

 formed by several residents in that district that the young al- 

 ways leave their parents when a few months old. 



The Australian Bustard breeds during September, October, 

 and November, and lays but two eggs, on the ground, without 

 any nest — a small bare spot being selected among the trees on 

 the hillside ; a few small sticks and blades of grass are some- 

 times found gathered round the eggs. The eggs vary both in 

 shape and size: some, like the figure (Plate IX. fig. 1), are thickest 

 at an equal distance from the ends ; others are more elongated, 

 and widest an inch from the thicker end. In length they are 

 from 3 to 3*3 in., and from 2-] to 2*3 in. in breadth. The 

 ground-colour varies from light olive-green to olive-brown, 

 having longitudinal smears, spots, and dashes of olive-brown, 



* [For some furtlier remarks by Mr. Ramsay on this species in the dis- 

 trict mentioned in the text, vide antea, pp. 134, 135. — Ed.] 



