196 



6*25. Hens weigh 10 to 20 lb., cocks 25 to 35, and even 40 is 

 recorded. The male possesses a large gular pouch opening under 

 the tongue (Elliot, I.e.), as in Otis tarda. 



Distribution. The plains of the Punjab between the Indus and 

 Junma, also Eastern Sind, Cutch, Kattywar, Kajputana, Guzerat, 

 the Bombay Deccan, the greater part of the Central Provinces, 

 'extending as far east as Sambalpur, the Hyderabad territories, and 

 parts of the Madras Presidency, and the Mysore State as far south 

 as Southern Mysore, and perhaps farther south. Stragglers may 

 be found outside the area specified, as in Western Sind, Meerut, 

 and Oudh ; but this Bustard is unknown in Behar, Chutia JNTagpur, 

 Orissa, and Bengal, on the Malabar coast, and in Ceylon. 



Habits, <$'c. The Great Indian Bustard is usually found singly or 

 in twos or threes, more rarely in flocks, and it keeps chiefly to open 

 dry country, especially wastes covered with low grass and scattered 

 cultivation, or sandy ground with small bushes ; it is never found 

 in forests nor on hills, but it sometimes enters high grass or fields 

 of millet (jowari), mustard, pulse, &c. It feeds on insects, 

 especially grasshoppers, on small reptiles, on fruit, grain, shoots of 

 grass, &c. Its flight is heavy but strong. It has a peculiar deep 

 booming note, imitated in its Mahratta name, and also a call-note, 

 described by some observers as a bark or a bellow, by others as a 

 trumpet sound. These birds, when in open ground, are very difficult 

 to approach, except on a cart or camel or on horseback, or by the 

 aid of a bullock or buffalo, but they squat and rest at times, and 

 are then much less wary. Th* males are magnificent birds, often 

 standing four feet in height, and they have a peculiar method, 

 in the breeding-season especially, of inflating their white throats, 

 doubtless by the aid of the gular pouch, and strutting about to 

 attract the hens. They are polygamous ; the hen between March 

 and September, chiefly in July or August, lays in a hollow on the 

 ground, unlined or thinly lined with grass, a single drab or olive 

 egg, faintly marked as a rule with brownish clouds, streaks, and 

 mottlings, and measuring about 3*11 by 2-24:. According to some 

 writers 2 or even 3 eggs are laid. 



, Genus HOUBARA, Bonap., 1831. 



This genus is distinguished by having a ruff of black and 

 white feathers descending along each side of the neck, and a 

 small crest in the middle of the crown. The feathers of the 

 fore neck are lengthened and overhang the breast. Sexes alike. 

 In other characters Houbara resembles Otis. There are two 

 closely allied species : one found around the Mediterranean, the 

 other inhabiting a considerable tract in Western Asia aud 

 visitin North-western India in winter. 





1415. Houbara macqueeni. The Houbara. 



J_-_L*J. ttvuinun niAuiJ[ucc/JLii. -t /te uuuvuru. 



Otis macqueenii, GVay m Hardw. III. Ind. Zool. ii, pi. 47 (1833-34) ; 



Hume, Ibis, 1868, p. 241. 

 Houbara macqueenii, Hittton, J. A. 8. B. xvi, p. 786 ; Blyth Cat. 



