lUO OTlTiD.^. 



much rest, and, in order to make a really good bag, it is now necessary to go 

 beyond that distance. The nearest good spot I know of, where a day's sp(jft 

 can be had without finding another person stalking over the same plain, is about 

 lAventy-five miles by rail." At INIaytirjg and Jempeer stations, on the S. P. and 

 D, line, this Bustard is numerous, and it is not uncommon to see a bag from 

 these places of from I o to i2aday. The flesh of the Houbara is excellent 

 eating. At the time of year it is found, it is extremely fat and tender, and 

 hence skins are difficult to preserve, especially of the part on the rump, which 

 is very thin. 



Gen. Syplieotides — /^f r^CT?. 



Bill broad at base and ridged above ; nostrils elongate ; more than half of 

 tibia bare. 



125. Sypheotides bengalensis (GmtL), Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 6i6; 



Hume, Ncsls and Eggs Ind, B . p, 559 ; id. and Marsh., Ganie Birds i. p. 4 pi. ; 

 Murray, Avif. Brit. Ind. ii, p, 577, No. 1248. Otis deliciosa (Gray), 

 Hardiv,, III. Ind. Zool. i. pis. 61 and 62, Otis himalayanus, Gould, Cent. 

 Him. B., pis. 73, 74, 75. — The Bkngal Flokikin. 



In breeding dress the male has the whole head, which is fully crested, neck, 

 breast, and lower parts with the thigh coverts glossy black ; the breast feathers 

 elongated, and those of the neck in front also elongated ; back, scapulars, 

 tertiaries, rump and upper tail coverts rich olive buff, closely and minutely 

 mottled with black zigzag markings, and a black dash in the centre of each 

 feather ; shoulders, wing coverts and quills white, the tips, shafts and outer 

 edges of the first three primaries black ; tail black, minutely mottled with buff 

 and with a broad white tip. Bill dusky above, yellowish beneath ; irides brown ; 

 legs pale dirty yellowish. {Jerd.) 



Length. — 24 to 27 inches; wing I4 ; tail 7; tarsus 6; bill at front 1*25. 

 The female has the whole upper plumage pale fulvous with black and brown 

 mottlings, barrings and vermiculations ; ear coverts whitish. 



Hah. — Throughout Lower Bengal, parts of the Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, 

 Oudh, Dacca, Hill Tipperah, Sylhet, Assam and northward to the foot 

 of the Himalayas. Breeds in Sikkim and Nepaul, from jNIay to July. Eggs 

 two in number, variable in shades of colour — pink, brown and stone colour, 

 blotched and freckled all over with dark brown. Both this and the next species, 

 -5". auritiis, are extremely wary, and, like the Houbara, very difficult to flush 

 after the sun is well up, except in those parts of Bengal and the Central 

 Provinces where they abound. The cock and hen birds are seldom flushed 

 together, and my experience is that the former arrive first and in greater 

 numbers than the latter. For the table both species are highly esteemed, and 

 as Jerdon says, considered by some the most delicious game in the country. 

 The flesh is brown, juicy, and of a very high flavour. 



