142 GAME-BIRDS OF INDIA 



which have from time to time visited England and have been 

 promptly slain, must have been very young birds. Yarrell records 

 males of only 16 lb. and females of 9 lb. to 10 lb., whereas the males 

 in Spain commonly weigh between 20 lb. to 30 lb. and the females 

 12 lb. to 18 lb. Professor Newton mentions 22 lb. to 32 lb. as the 

 average weight of European Bustards. The remarkable variations 

 of weight in birds shot out of the same flocks and in the same 

 localities lead me to believe that Bustards take very much longer to 

 reach maturity than is popularly imagined. Again, they seem to 

 vary enormously in weight according to the season of the year. Out 

 of a number of Bustards I have weighed and examined, those killed 

 in the winter months have averaged only about two-thirds the weight 

 of those killed in March and April. The smallest Great Bustard I 

 ever saw killed was a young female in the month of February, and 

 which weighed only 12 lb. This bird must have been at least nine 

 months old." 



" Six old male birds shot by a party of three guns, of which I was 

 one, in the month of April averaged over 34 lb. each, the heaviest 

 being 37 lb. ; no doubt the contents of the crops accounted for some 

 of this great weight." 



In ' Unexplored Spain ' Messrs. Chapman and Buck give much 

 the same weights. They say : — 



" In weight, cock Bustards vary from 20 to 22 lbs. in autumn, 

 up to 28 to 30 lbs. in April. The biggest old males in spring reach 

 38 and 34 lbs., and one we presented to the National Collection at 

 South Kensington weighed 37 lbs." 



" Hen Bustards seldom exceed 15 lbs. at any season." 



The record in weight for a cock Bustard appears to be held by 

 Colonel K. Whalley, who sends me the following extract from his 

 diary : " May 19th, 1890. Shot a very large Bustard, which weighed 

 40 lbs., at Tapatanella, Mediana." 



Distribution. — Sharpe gives the range of this magnificent bird as 

 " Southern Europe and Northern Africa, extending to Central Asia 

 and North-west India," and this range now includes Persia and 

 Afghanistan. In the latter country it was obtained by the Afghan 

 Delimitation Commission, and in the former it has now been several 

 times taken ; and I have eggs also thence. 



