THE RUFFlLD BUSTAkDS. 1^3 



Eggs. — Three or four in number; olive-brown to olive-green, 

 or stone-colour in tint, the markings being very inconspicuous, 

 so that the general aspect of the egg is uniform. The under- 

 lying markings are dusky and scarcely distinguishable, while 

 the overlying ones are obscure oUve or reddish-brown. Axis, 

 I •95-2-25 ; diam., 1-5-1 '6. 



THE RUFFED BUSTARDS. GENUS IIOUBARiV. 



Iloiihara, Bp. Saggio Met. Ucc. Europ. p. 144 (183 1). 



Type, H. ufiduhita (Jacq.). 



The Ruffed Bustards belong to the section of the Family 

 which have an overhanging shield of feathers on the crop. In 

 the genus Houha7'a the crown has an erectile crest of narrow 

 feathers, and on the sides of the neck is a large ruff of soft 

 feathery plumes. The tarsus is very short. 



Two species of Ruffed Bustard are known, Macqueen's Bus- 

 tard of the British list, and the Mediterranean Ruffed Bustard 

 {H. ufidulata)^ the ranges of which are given below. 



I. macqueen's bustard, houbara macqueenii. 



Otis fjiacqueefii, J. E. Gray ; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 395, pi. 

 511 (1876); Seebohm, Brit. B. ii. p. 591 (1884); Saun- 

 ders, ed. Yarr. Brit. B. iii. p. 221 (1884); id. Man. Brit. 

 B. p. 153(1889). 



Houbara macqueeiiu^ B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 154 (1883); 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 318 (1894). 



Adult MrIs. — Freckled above with sandy and blackish, like 

 other Bustards, but easily distinguished by its facial characters 

 and ruff. The crown of the head is sandy-brown in colour, 

 minutely freckled with blackish, and ornamented in the centre 

 with a crest of a few elongated feathers, which are white tipped 

 with black ; the occiput and nape greyish-white, with dusky 

 frecklings ; the hind-neck covered with down of a sandy-buff 

 colour ; on the sides of the crown a lateral crest of white, slightly 

 freckled on the feathers over the eye ; lores and feathers round 

 the eye white, with elongated black hair-like shafts to the 

 feathers ; the sides of the face and ear-coverts pale sandy-buff, 



