OTIS TARDA TAKDA 147 



in June ; on the other hand, in Northern Africa, South Bussia and 

 Asia Minor, it is said sometimes to lay in the end of April, and 

 eggs have been taken in North Africa as early as the first week of 

 that month. 



The normal clutch of eggs has been generally held to be two, and 

 occasionally but one egg is incubated. On the other hand, three 

 eggs are often laid in a clutch, and four and even five eggs have been 

 taken from the same nest. There are two clutches in the British 

 Museum, both in the Seebohm collection, which contain three eggs, 

 one taken at Halberstadt, Germany, on the *2'2nd May, and the other 

 at Choousk-Keui, Asia Minor, on the 11th May. 



Both Colonel Verner and Colonel Irby, however, consider three 

 or four the normal clutch. The former says : — 



" It is well known to all interested in bird life that when once a 

 ' fact ' regarding natural history has been duly recorded it takes a 

 long time to disprove it, successive authorities being content to quote 

 from one another without seeking for further information. Among 

 such is the generally accepted statement regarding the number of 

 eggs laid by the Great Bustard, which has been recorded as two from 

 time immemorial, with the explanation that when four eggs are found 

 in a nest, 'no doubt two females have laid in it.' In consequence, 

 when 1 first saw a nest with four eggs I duly noted the fact and 

 entered the usual stock explanation in my diary. By good chance 

 my notes some years later were read by the late Lord Lilford, un- 

 doubtedly one of the best authorities on the birds of the Spanish 

 Peninsula, who very kindly pencilled across the page : ' The Great 

 Bustard often lays four and rarely five eggs. L.' " 



" Some years later I met with a second nest with four eggs, as 

 recorded by Colonel Irby." 



" After Colonel Irby's book appeared, I on several occasions found 

 Bustards' nests with three eggs, not four, sometimes considerably 

 incubated, but it was not until last year that after a long interval I 

 chanced to be among the Bustards at the right time. In May, 1907, 

 in one beanfield, I came across no fewer than four nests containing 

 respectively four, three, three, and two eggs. The set of four were 

 somewhat incubated, as were one of the sets of three, the remainder 

 being quite fresh." 



" My conclusion, based on many years' experience, is that Great 

 Bustards commonly lay three or four eggs, but in some instances 

 they only lay two, though in others even five eggs." 



Normally the eggs of the Great European Bustard are broad 



