LITTLE BUSTARD. 589 
they show more white when flying than the Great Bustard does. In many 
respects their flight resembles that of a butterfly or of a Snow-Bunting. 
We never saw two males together during the breeding-season. The nest 
can only be found by accident. We were driving rather quickly across 
the steppe, anxious to reach Kalarash before dark, when suddenly a female 
Little Bustard rose within ten feet of the waggon, and was speedily dropped 
by our Jager, who was sitting gun in hand by the driver. We jumped 
out of the carriage, and in a quarter of a minute found the nest, containing 
four eggs. The hollow was deeper than that of the nest of the Great 
Bustard, and there was a distinct nest of dry grass and weeds, though 
very slight; it was about seven inches across, and well concealed by tufts 
of a kind of lucerne. 
The eggs of the Little Bustard are usually four in number, but three 
are often found, and it is said sometimes five. They vary in ground- 
colour from buffish brown to dark olive-brown and olive-green, indistinctly 
mottled and spotted with pale reddish brown. Most of the markings are 
congregated on the large end of the egg, sometimes on the small end, and 
form an indistinct confluent mass. The surface is very highly polished, 
rather smooth, and the pits or pores are not very conspicuous. ‘They vary 
in length from 2°15 to 1:93 inch, and in breadth from 1°6 to 1°5 inch. 
The eggs of the Little Bustard cannot easily be confused with those of 
any other European bird. 
The Little Bustard is said to be more insectivorous than the Great 
Bustard, though it also eats vegetables and seeds. 
The Little Bustard is about the size of a Grouse, and differs little in 
colour from the Great Bustard, except that the ground-colour of the 
plumage is less chestnut and the black markings finer. The top of the 
head and ail the tail-feathers are coloured like the back. The maie has 
no moustachial plumes, but the nuptial plumage is very pronounced. The 
nape is ornamented with a black crest; the chin, ear-coverts, and upper 
throat are pale slate-grey, below which is a gorget of white, followed by a 
second gorget of black, a third of white, and a fourth of black. Biull 
brown; legs, feet, and claws brownish yellow; irides yellow. In the 
female the head and neck are coloured somewhat like the back, and similar 
markings are more or less conspicuous on the breast and flanks. The 
markings on the back are much coarser than in the male. After the 
autumn moult the male loses all the white and black gorgets on the throat, 
and nearly resembles the female; but it is not known whether they are 
assumed again in spring by a partial moult or by a change in the colour 
of the feather. Young in first plumage are said to resemble females ; and 
males of the year probably retain the coarse markings on the back which are 
supposed to be characteristic of the adult female, though ornithologists do 
not agree on these points. Dresser says that “the young male has the 
