598.3 3138 
591.156 
II 
The Gular Pouch of the Great Bustard (Otes tarda) 
ie reviewing the history of the gular pouch of the Great Bustard 
we have of necessity to trace the history of the explanation of 
two very different phenomena, which at last resolve themselves into 
complementary halves of a common whole. ‘The first of these deals 
with the fact now known to all ornithologists, that several different 
species of Bustard have the power of inflating the neck to an enor- 
mous degree, at intervals during that period when, as the poet has 
it, “faney, lightly turns to thoughts of love.” It is one of the 
many methods of ‘showing off’ to be found in such abundance 
amongst birds. At least three different versions have been given to 
explain how this inflation is brought about. The second, as already 
hinted, is linked with that of the first. It concerns what is the 
main theme of this paper,—the Gular Pouch. The very existence 
of such a structure has been denied by some, by others it has been 
held to be a receptacle for water, food, and air, Those who subscribed 
to this latter view, for the most part connected it more or less 
definitely, with the curious love displays just referred to, and knew 
something of the habits of the living birds, which the others did not. 
The aim of the present paper is to give a sketch of these various 
conflicting interpretations and to draw attention to one or two minor 
points around which some doubt still seems to hover. 
The earliest known indication of the possession of this faculty 
of inflating the neck by the Great Bustard dates back as far as 1681. 
This we owe to Sir Thomas Browne!: he remarks that “as a Turkey 
hath an odde large substance without, so had this [Otis tarda] 
within the inside of the skinne.” Here however we have nothing 
more than a bare statement drawing attention to the fact that the 
neck of this species of Bustard differed from that of birds generally 
in this respect, and we are left to imagine that it is a constant 
character possibly possessed by both sexes in common. Some half 
century later a real contribution to our knowledge of the subject 
was made, which was destined to become the subject of much 
animated discussion. It concerns the gular pouch. This we owe 
to Dr James Douglas, a British anatomist. The first mention of 
this was made by Albin in 1740, for Douglas it seems did not 
1 The quotations from the earlier writers are taken for the most part from Pro- 
fessor Newton’s valuable article in the bis for 1862. 
