LITTLE BUSTARD 197 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Head, bluish-grey ; just 
below the base of the lower segment of the beak there is a 
tuft of long, thin, white bristle- like feathers, which grow 
downwards on either side of the throat ;* back and scapulars, 
rich yellowish-buff, barred with black; wing-coverts, white ; 
primaries, brownish; tail, yellowish- brown, barred with 
black, and edged wih white; breast, banded with rich 
reddish-brown and orey ; abdomen, white. 
Adult female nuptial.—Resembles the male plumage, 
but the face-bristles are absent, and the breast is not banded. 
Adult winter, male and female.—Resembles the respective 
nuptial plumages. 
Immature, male and female.—Resembles the adult female 
plumage. 
Beak. Lead-grey, shading to horn-colour, blackish at 
the tip. 
Fret. Light brown. 
Irtpes. Dark brown. 
AYERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
ToTAL LENGTH 43 in. Female often only 30 in. 
WING... She He < Ons 
MAK 9 2... Oi 
TARSO-METATARSUS 6 ¥ 
Eee es So Zoe in: 
Allied Species and Representative Forms.—O. dybowskii 
is the true Eastern representative. 
LITTLE BUSTARD. Otis tetrax (Linneus). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, pl. 
18; Dresser, ‘Birds of Europe,’ vol vii, pl. 509; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. v, pl. 2. 
In the south and east of England and as far north as 
Yorkshire, there are several occurrences of the Little 
'The males have a large air-pouch in the throat which is capable 
of great distention in the mating-season. 
