442 RASORES. OTIS. BUSTARD. 



GREAT BUSTARD. 



OTIS TARDA, Linn. 

 PLATE LXIV. 



Otis Tarda, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 264. 1 Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 722. sp. 1 Lath. 



Ind. Ornith. v. 2. p. 658. sp. 1 Raii Syn. p. 58. A. 1 Will. p. 129. 



t. 32 Biiss. 5. p. 18. 1. 



L'Outarde, Buff. Ois. v. 2. p. 1. t. 1 Id. PL Enl. 245. male. 



Outarde barbue, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. v. 2. p. 506. 



Der Grosse Trappe, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. v. 3. p. 1432 Meyer, Tasschenb. 



Deut. v. 1. p. 308 Frisch, Vog. t. 106. female, and No. 106. Sup. the 



male. 

 Great Bustard, Br. Zool. 1. No. 98. t. 44. male, bad figure Arct. Zool. 



2. No. 186 Id. Sup. p. 63 Will. (Ang.) p. 178. t. 32 Lath. Syn. 4. 



p. 796 Albin, 3. t. 28, 39 Edw. t. 79, 80 Lewirfs Br. Birds, 4. t. 139. 



Mont. Ornith. Diet Id. Sup Wale. Syn. 2. t. 173 Pult. Cat. Dor- 



set. p. 6 Bewick's Br. Birds, 1. p. t. 314. correct figure of male. 



THIS fine species, the largest of the British land birds, 

 (having been met with weighing from 28 to 30 Ib.) was for- 

 merly common in many parts of England; and its range 

 extended at one period even to Scotland, as we learn from 

 HECTOR BOETIUS and Sir ROBERT SIBBALD. Within the 

 last thirty or forty years, however, the increased population 

 of the country, and the consequent extension of agriculture, 

 aided by the growth of luxury (the desire of gratifying which 

 increases as the object becomes difficult of attainment), have 

 so reduced the breed, that it is extinct in many places where 

 it was tolerably plentiful before the above-mentioned period. 

 Its appearance is now, I believe, exclusively confined to some 

 parts of the county of Norfolk, particularly where the enclo- 

 sures are extensive, and the soil of a dry sandy character. 

 It is to be hoped that protection will there be given to the 

 few that survive, and that no endeavours will be spared to 

 prevent the total extinction of so noble a native bird; although 

 probably, in consequence of the present scarcity of males, 

 and the destruction of the eggs, arising from the improved 



