GREAT BUSTARD. 213 



hen-bird sat, and after twenty-five days' incubation one young- 

 one was hatched. A male bird which Lord Lilford received 

 aHve from the Continent, and which he kept for more than 

 four years, is described as exceedingly bold and tame, ap- 

 proaching any one who entered the aviary quite fearlessly, 

 making a curious guttural noise. He ate mice, raw meat, 

 worms, snails, wheat, barley, turnip-tops, lettuce and grass, 

 and lived amicably with other birds. 



As regards the presence of the much discussed gular 

 pouch in the male Bustard, the following was communicated 

 by the late Professor A. Garrod, Prosector to the Zoological 

 Society, to Mr. H. E. Dresser, for ' The Birds of Europe,' 

 and by his permission is here reproduced : — 



" The different points connected with the question as to 

 the existence or non-existence of a gular pouch in Otis tarda 

 have excited a degree of attention and a diversity of opinion 

 which can only be accounted for by the difficulty that there 

 is in this country of obtaining a sufficient number of speci- 

 mens for examination. Several authorities have recorded 

 their very contradictory results ; and Pi'ofessor Newton's 

 excellent and exhaustive summary (Ibis, 1862, p. 107) left 

 the question as undecided as ever. Dr. W. H. Cullen, of 

 Kustendjie, in Bulgaria, was led from Professor Newton's 

 remarks to re-examine the point; and in the two specimens 

 of the bird which he dissected, the pouch was well developed. 

 He communicated his results, with drawings, to * The Ibis ' 

 (1865, p. 143) ; and Professor Flower has also examined 

 and described his specimens (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 747). Dr. 

 Murie has further verified the existence of a gular pouch in 

 an adult specimen which belonged to the Zoological Society 

 of London ; and a very good sketch of the open mouth 

 accompanies his paper. The same author also proved the 

 existence of a similarly situated, but smaller, pouch in Otis 

 kori; and he shows that the habits of Otis australis render 

 it certain that in that bird the same structure is also largely 

 developed. Through the kindness of Lord Lilford I have 

 had the opportunity of examining a specimen taken from a 

 Spanish example of Otis tarda, in which the very capacious 



