THE TRUE BUSTARDS. I I 7 



aries blackish, the bases white, this increasing in extent to- 

 wards the inner secondaries, on which the black tip gradually 

 disappears, so that the inner ones are quite white, the inner- 

 most ones being like the back ; crown light grey, tinged with 

 rufous towards the hind-neck, which is barred across with 

 black ; sides efface, ear-coverts, cheeks, and throat light grey, 

 with elongated bristle-like feathers on each side of the chin ; 

 lower throat and fore-neck orange-chestnut, forming a band 

 across the fore-neck, which is washed with light grey, the sides 

 of the neck with numerous small bars of black ; sides of upper 

 breast sandy-rufous, barred with black ; rest of under surface 

 of body pure white; bill leaden-grey, the tip horn-black ; feet 

 earthy-brown, the nails horny-black ; iris dark brown ; eyelid 

 white. Total length, 42 inches; culmen, 2'i ; wing, 23-5 ; tail, 

 io'o ; tarsus, 6'o. 



Adult Female. Coloured like the male, but much smaller. 

 The grey on the throat extends farther down, the sides of the 

 neck being rufous with a few black bands, the rufous-colour 

 descending on to the sides of the fore-neck. There are no 

 ornamental bristly plumes on the cheeks. Total length, 30 

 inches; culmen, 2*1 ; wing, 19*5 ; tail, 8*5 ; tarsus, 5*3. 



Young Birds. Resemble the old female, but are paler and 

 more freckled with dusky-brown bars on the wing-coverts, as 

 well as on the white secondaries, which have a large dark sub- 

 terminal bar. The crown is like the back, being blackish, 

 blotched with sandy-buff markings, and the hind-neck is grey- 

 ish ; the sides of the face and throat greyish-white, as also a 

 broad eyebrow ; lower throat and fore-neck sandy-buff, freckled 

 with dusky cross-markings ; sides of fore-neck sandy-rufous, 

 with distinct black cross-bars. 



Range in Great Britain. According to Mr. Howard Saunders 

 (Man. p. 509), "until the year 1526 the Great Bustard used 

 to breed, sparingly, as far north as the flat portion of the Low- 

 lands, on the Scottish side of the Border ; and southward it 

 was common on the moors, extensive downs and plains of 

 England, to the Channel. Enclosure, the planting of trees, 

 and the increase of population contributed to the gradual 

 diminution of its numbers, and it passed away, unrecorded, 

 from Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, the wolds of 



