701 



BUSTARD. 



BUSTARD. 



702 



fielde, called the great flight, as to the cranes, wild geese, bustard, 

 bird of paradise, bittors, shovelars, hearons, and many other such 

 like, and these you may flee from the fist, which is properly tearmed 

 the source. Neverthelesse, in this kind of hawking, \vhieh is called 

 the Great Flight, the falcons or other hawkes cannot well accomplish 

 their flight at the cranes, bustard, or such like, unlesse they have the 

 helpe of some spaniell, or such dogge, wel inured and taught for that 

 purpose with your hawke. Forasmuch as great flights require 

 pleasant ayde and assistance, yea and that with great diligence." As 

 an article of food the flesh of the bustard is held in great estimation. 

 It ia dark in colour, short in fibre, but sweet and well-flavoured. 



0. tetrox, the Little Bustard, is only an accidental winter visitor in 

 Great Britain. Specimens have been killed in various parts of our 

 coast. It is frequent in the southern and south-western parts of 

 Russia. It is common in France, and also found in Spain, Provence, 

 Sardinia, Italy, and Sicily. It is also an inhabitant of North Africa, 

 Turkey, and Greece. 



0. nigncept is a native of Asia. The specimen from which the 

 figure in Mr. Gould's magnificent work (' Century of Birds from the 

 Himalaya Mountains ') was taken was brought from the highlands of 

 the Himalaya, but it is by no means confined to that locality. Colonel 

 Sykes observed it in the wide and open country of the Mahrattas, 

 where it lives in large flocks, and where it is considered one of the 

 greatest delicacies as an article of food. It is indeed so abundant in 

 the Deccan, that Colonel Sykes records, in the ' Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society,' that one gentleman shot nearly a thousand. 



The male has the body above pale bay, lightly undulated with 

 rufous-brown ; neck, a few spots on the wings, and belly, white ; the 

 head, which is crested, the outer wing-coverts, the quills, and the 

 large mark on the breast, black ; irides deep-brown ; bill and feet 

 yellowish. Length, inclusive of tail, 564 inches ; tail, 134 inches. 



brown. Quills black. Feet yellowish-green. Bill brown, yellow at 

 the base. Length 20 inches ; height, when erect, 17 inches 6 lines. 



Le Vaillant discovered this species in the interior of South Africa, 

 nhabiting the Kaffir country and some parts of the colony of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Temminck, from whom the description and 

 igure are taken, says that he is ignorant whether the female differs 

 n plumage from the male, of which latter sex were the two indi- 

 viduals he had seen. There are specimens in the museums of Paris 

 and of the Netherlands. 



Otii nigricept, male. 



The female resembles the male in plumage, but ia only 414 inches 

 including the tail, which ia 104 inches. 



The egga, of which Colonel Sykes found only one in a hole in the 

 earth on the open plain and that considerably advanced in the process 

 of incubation, were in shape a perfect oval, and in colour a brown-olive, 

 with obscure blotches of darker brown-olive. Length 3^ inches, 

 diameter 2,^, inches. 



". neruleicen* i an inhabitant of Africa. The summit of the head 

 in marked with black and reddish zig-zags, straight and nearly approxi- 

 mated. Above the eyes extends a large whitish band, punctured as 

 it were with brown ; plumes near the ear-opening of a clear ruddy 

 colour. Under the neck a demi-circular band of pure white ; and 

 below another twice as large, of deep black. Front of the neck 

 breast, and all the other lower parts of a lead-colour. All the upper 

 part* of the body of a reddish or yellowish brown, marked with black 

 zig-zags and dot* very nearly together. Lower coverts of the wings anc 

 tail-feathers unspotted, ruddy. End of the tail black, tinged, with 



Otis cxrultscens, male. 



0. Denhami, the African Bustard met with by Major Denham near 

 the larger towns, did not occur in any great abundance. It frequented 

 moist places where the herbage was pure and fresh, and where it was 

 taken in snares by the natives for food. It was almost invariably 

 seen singly, Major Denham never having observed a pair together 

 more than once. It was always found in company with gazelles : 

 whenever a bustard was observed it was certain that the gazelles were 

 not far distant. Major Denham praises its large and brilliant eye. 

 The Arabs are accustomed to compare the eyes of their most beautiful 

 women to those of the Oubara, which seems to be a general name for 

 the bustards in Africa, Gmelin has given the title as a specific dis- 

 tinction to an African bustard smaller than Major Denham' s, which 

 is 3 feet 9 inches in length. But this is small in comparison with the 

 Ron Bustard (Ota Kori) discovered by Mr. Burchell in South Africa, 

 for that stood upwards of 5 feet high, and may be considered the 

 most gigantic development of the form hitherto observed. 



Burchell, in his Travels in the interior of Southern Africa, gives the 

 following account of his becoming possessed of this noble Bustard on 

 the banks of the Orange River : " We shot a large bird of the bustard 

 kind, which was called Wilde Paauw (Wild Peacock). This name is 

 here very wrongly applied, as the 

 bird to which it properly belongs 

 differs from this in every respect. 

 There are indeed three, or perhaps 

 four, birds to which in dim-rent 

 districts this appellation is given. 

 The present species, which is called 

 Kori in the Sichuana language, 

 measured in extent of wing not 

 less than 7 feet, and in bulk and 

 weight was almost greater than 

 some of the people could manage. 

 The under part of the body was 

 white, but the upper part was 

 covered with fine lines of black on 

 a light chestnut-coloured ground. 

 The tail and quill-feathers partook 

 of the general colouring of the 

 back ; the shoulders were marked ucad of Kori Bustard (Ota Kori). 

 with large blotches of black and 



white, and the top of the head was black ; the feathers of the occiput 

 were elongated into a crest ; those of the neck were also elongated, 

 loose, narrow, and pointed, and were of a whitish colour marked with 

 numerous transverse lines of black. The irides were of a beautiful, 



