OTIDID^E. 579 



Family OTIDID^E, OR BUSTARDS. 



The Bustards are a somewhat ill-defined little family, apparently inter- 

 mediate between the Plovers aiid the Game Birds. Forbes divided them 

 into two families, the Bustards and the Stone-Curlews, which he regarded 

 as very nearly allied to each other and to the Rails, and not very distantly 

 related to the Game Birds and the Cuckoos. Sclater also recognizes the 

 two families ; but places the Bustards in the same Order as the Cranes, 

 and the Stone-Curlews in the same Order as that of the Plovers, in each 

 case associating groups of birds which, in the opinion of Forbes, are very 

 distantly related. The notches on each side of the posterior margin of the 

 sternum in the Bustards are two in number, deeper than in the Ibises and 

 Spoonbills, but not so deep as in the Sandpipers. Huxley, in his classifi- 

 cation, founded upon the modification of the cranial bones, places them next 

 to the Cranes and the Rails, and not far from the Sandpipers, the Gulls, 

 Game Birds, &c. Nitzsch says that in the structure of the skeleton, 

 particularly in the form of the sternum and furcula, the Bustards are very 

 nearly allied to the Sandpipers, especially to the Curlews. In the structure 

 of the skull they most closely approach the Stone-Curlews ; but in some 

 other respects they diverge very distinctly from the type of the Sand- 

 pipers. In their pterylosis, myology, and digestive organs they approach 

 nearest to the Cranes and the Rails. 



The Bustards have only one complete moult in the year, in autumn, but 

 some of the feathers of the head and neck are changed in spring. 



In their external characters the Bustards appear to be an intermediate 

 link between the Game Birds and the Plovers. The style of coloration 

 and the shape of the bill generally very closely resemble those of some of 

 the Grouse, but the wings are long and pointed, and the tail is short and 

 rounded. The legs are rather long, the toes very short, and the hind toe 

 is \\aiitiiig. The young of the Bustards, like the young of the Game Birds 

 and Plovers, are covered with down when they are hatched, and they are 

 able to run before they are many hours old. 



This family contains about thirty-five species, and is almost cosmo- 

 politan, being only absent from the Arctic and Nearctic Regions. Three 

 species are European, and are, or were, British. Four other species 

 occasionally wander into Europe, one of which is said to have visited our 

 islands. 



