332 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description. 



same; their chief, if not only difference, con- 

 sisting of the variation in the colour of their 

 plumage. 



THE BUSTARD, 



WHICH is the largest of the English land 

 birds, measures from three to four feet from the 

 point of the bill to the end of the tail, and weighs 

 from twenty-five to thirty pounds, when of the 

 common size ; but the individuals of this species 

 vary considerably in magnitude. There are still 

 greater variations in the tints and distribution of 

 of the colours of the plumage than in the dimen- 

 sions, which are probably occasioned by differ- 

 ence of sex, age, or season. In general the head, 

 throat, and neck, are ash-coloured ; beneath the 

 lower bill is a tuft of long feathers of the same ; 

 a ring of a light red encircles the eyes ; all the 

 upper part of the body is reddish, with spots and 

 transverse bars, of a dark brown and fawn-colour; 

 the belly is white, slighrjy intermixed with red. 

 The down at the beginning of the feathers is of 

 a bright red: the wings are partly black and 

 partly white, with brown and black spots. The 

 tail is reddish above and white underneath ; the 

 feathers of which it is composed have black bars, 

 and are terminated with light grey. The bill is 

 dark grey ; the iris of the eye orange, the legs 



