142 The Great Bustard 
in size, shape and markings. The fourth egg was less granulated 
and was somewhat larger and more elongated and was also marked 
more distinctly. 
That the three were laid by the same bird is beyond a doubt, 
whilst the fourth, although thus varying as described, had the 
unmistakable ‘family ” similarity to the others which would have 
induced any skilled oologist to class it with them. I am quite 
content however with the unmistakable proof of the three eggs 
having been laid by one bird, for if three, why not four and what 
becomes of the story of the Great Bustard only laying two eggs? 
Of the two sets of three, one had the usual ofaguwe greenish brown 
ground colour with exactly similar markings in each case, whilst 
the other set had the far rarer clear greenish brown ground colour 
with much brighter blotches of burnt umber and purplish under- 
surface markings. 
My conclusion, based on many years’ experience, is that Great 
Bustards commonly lay three or four eggs, but in some instances 
they only lay two, though in others even five eggs. 
The remarkably small size of Great Bustards’ eggs has surprised 
many and is directly in opposition to Hewitson’s theory that those 
birds which run from the moment of being hatched lay larger eggs 
than do others whose young are hatched out in a helpless state. 
I have often seen Great Bustards’ eggs which were very little 
larger than a Curlew’s, yet the first bird weighs ten to fifteen times 
as much as the second and in both cases the young run from 
the egg. 
Young Bustards, as is well known, like young Plovers, Turkeys 
or chickens, run from the egg. On one occasion, now many years 
ago, my brother officer, Harry Fergusson, found a Great Bustard’s 
nest with four eggs; two of these were blown and were found to 
be fairly fresh, the other two we placed under a hen and installed her 
in the corner of his one room in barracks. Here she sat steadily 
