OTIS TARDA 281 



of the Chott Djerid, saw a Bustard which he felt sure at the time 

 was 0. tarda. 



According to Loche the Great Bustard occurs accidentally on 

 migration in Algeria, and the same is probably the case in Marocco, 

 where examples have occasionally been obtained. Colonel Irby states 

 that he had seen one or two specimens obtained near Tangier, and 

 Mr. Tyrwhitt-Drake mentions one, which had been shot and skinned 

 by Mr. W. K. Green, British Vice-Consul at Tetuan. A specimen 

 from Tangier is preserved in Mr. J. H. Gurney's collection at Keswick 

 Hall, Norwich. 



This fine species is not uncommon in Spain, South-eastern Europe 

 and Asia Minor, its range extending eastward to Central Asia and as 

 far as North-west India, where, however, it appears to be only a rare 

 straggler. As an occasional or accidental visitor it occurs in other 

 parts of Europe, and used formerly to be an inhabitant of England. 

 In some parts of Spain it is most abundant, particularly in the 

 neighbourhood of Seville. 



The Great Bustard frequents vast plains and open country bare 

 of trees and high vegetation, where it is approached with difficulty. 

 It is exceedingly wary and always on the alert, and if wounded 

 and unable to use its limbs, is very clever in concealing itself. It 

 walks and runs well, and its flight, though apparently slow and 

 heavy, is fairly swift and powerful. It feeds chiefly on grass and 

 other vegetable-matter, but also on insects, and the young appear 

 to be fed chiefly on the latter. Its eggs, two or three in number, 

 are deposited in a slight depression in the ground, and are olive- 

 brown in colour, blotched with dark brown. They measure about 

 75 X 50 mm. 



The Arabian Bustard {Otis arabs, Linn.) is stated by Loche to 

 have occurred in Algeria, two examples o£ the species having been 

 obtained in 1855 near the town of Algiers (Expl. Scient. Alg. Ois. ii, 

 p. 257). 



This fine Bustard is to be met with in some parts of Marocco. 

 Mr. Tyrwhitt-Drake obtained a specimen of it from Dar-el-beida, on 

 the south coast of Marocco (Ibis, 1867, p. 429), and an example 

 from Mogador is preserved in the British Museum collection. Mr. E. 

 G. B. Meade-Waldo also found a dead bird of this species floating 

 in the river Seboo at Mehedia. One of the strongholds of this Bustard 

 in Marocco appears to be the Forest of Marmora, not far from Eabat. 



