THE LESSER BUSTARDS. IIQ 



times a fine-looking bird, becomes an extraordinary object 

 when in love, and betrays one of the most remarkable 

 figures to be met with in nature. His "show-off "is some- 

 what as follows : Standing before the female, he beats his 

 feet on the ground, and begins by shaking his wings. He 

 then turns his tail flat upon his back, crosses his long primary- 

 quills, so that the ends protrude cross-wise over it, shakes 

 up his scapulars and covers the quills so that nothing of 

 them remains in sight. The white under tail-coverts are then 

 brought up, so as to form a frill behind him. Then his 

 wing-coverts are gradually turned forwards, and the four white 

 inner secondaries are erected on each side of the back, while 

 he buries his head in his neck, thereby causing his whiskers to 

 stand erect on each side ; and then by means of the air-pouch, 

 under his tongue, he inflates his neck and throat to a pro- 

 digious extent, his chestnut crop being in full evidence. The 

 long parapteral feathers, which are really wing-coverts, share 

 in the everting process of the latter, and are thrown forward, 

 so as to show the elegant white plumes raised over each side 

 of the back. That white is evidently a considerable attraction 

 to the female, is shown by the fact that the bird constantly 

 varies the display by springing suddenly round and exhibiting 

 his other side to the female, where there are the white under 

 tail-coverts for her to admire. In the Natural History Museum 

 is an admirably mounted group of Bustards, executed by Mr. 

 Pickhardt, and showing the results of his studies of the species 

 in the Zoological Gardens, where this year (1895) the female 

 Bustard laid eggs. 



Nest. None ; a mere hollow scraped in the ground. 



Eggs. Two or three in number. Generally olive-brown, 

 double spotted, the underlying spots and blotches being faint 

 purplish grey, with similar overlying markings of light olive or 

 bro\vn. Axis, 27-3-25 inches; diam., 2-1-2-35. 



THE LESSER BUSTARDS. GENUS TETRAX. 

 Tetrax, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. &c. Brit. Mus. p. 28 (1816). 



Type, T. tttrax (Linn.). 

 In this genus, which consists of one small species, there are 



