150 The Little Bustard 
Like the Great Bustard, they appear very white when on the 
wing, only even more so. For in their immature plumage, as well 
as in their winter dress, both sexes have the breast as well as the 
under parts pure white. This general whiteness of appearance is 
intensified by the primaries and all the secondaries being white as 
well as the under surface of the wings. The adult male assumes 
the truly beautiful black-and-white gorget and delicate lavender- 
coloured throat only upon the approach of the breeding season 
in March, losing it again in August. 
Their flight is effected by extremely rapid beats of the wing, 
noticeable even at great distances, owing to the flashing of the 
sunlight on the white portions. The noise produced by their quick 
motion is one which once heard can never be forgotten and can be 
likened to a quick sibilant sound of ‘‘ see-see-see-see,” suggestive of 
that produced by the steam of a railway engine as it gathers way. 
Probably the Spanish name for this bird of Szsoz (pronounced 
‘“see-sone ”) is derived from this peculiarity as well as the Moorish 
name of Szrk-Szrk. 
The general appearance of these birds when on the ground, with 
wings closed, is very inconspicuous, so much so that it has been 
stated that they are rarely seen on the ground. 
Close to my dwelling in Spain are many hundreds of acres 
covered with asphodel and it is no uncommon sight to see the Little 
Bustard run out of this and across the patches of open ground. 
Again I have often watched a party of twenty or thirty feeding 
on a grassy hill-side or amid the asphodel not 200 yards distant 
and I have now and again, by making a wide detour followed by a 
rapid advance, under cover of the brow of a low hill, closed to 
within shot of them. 
It is only on such ground that it is possible now and again to 
out-manceuvre them, on the open plain they are as impossible to 
stalk as they are to drive. 
