53



Mr. W. H. St. Quintin,



prefer open undulating country, with scattered bushes for shelter

to a completely bleak surface. At any rate, the Little Bustard

must have small bushes and tufts of coarse grass to nestle up to,

if he is to be made really comfortable.


The females, and the males too, except when in nuptial

dress, are 'extraordinarily inconspicuous in dry, coarse grass, as

they bask in the sun. A few square yards of ashes and sand,

protected by a roof, but open to sun and air, are much appreciated

for dusting purposes, for, of course, these birds do not wash.


In the plumage of the first year, the sexes of living birds

of this species are not easily distinguished. But, after the first

moult, in the second autumn, the vermiculations on the feathers

of the upper parts, especially of the shoulders, are much finer in

the male, the corresponding feathers of the female being marked

with broader lines, and henceforth the sexes are easily distin¬

guishable at all seasons. In the spring, the male assumes a

striking nuptial dress, the neck and breast being decorated with

black, white, and lavender grey bands, as shown in Mr. Starkey’s

photograph which accompanies these notes. The breeding dress

was assumed by my young males at the end of their second year,

but the females did not lay till they were a year older.


Originally (four years ago) I had three pairs, but I am

sorry to say that I have lost two of the males, in spite of great

care taken with them. I think the damp of early autumn was

the cause of death in each case.


The birds under notice came from South Russia, but I

have had them from Spain also, but, unfortunately, always males.

In winter, and in exceptionally bad weather at other times, the

birds are confined a good deal in sunny, dry, sheds, on a floor of

peatmoss. In spring and early autumn they are out during most

days, and from April till September they are outside night and

day.


They are no doubt all the better for as much fresh air and

liberty as possible, but all Bustards are miserable in wet weather,

and are apt to mope and stand against some sheltering fence or

bush, and are then better under cover.


When in health the)' are, like the larger Bustards, full of

frolic, and this has nothing to do with any nuptial display, but is



