GREAT BUSTARD. 



235 



down, and form a distinct pectoral band of a rich chestnut ; 

 below, and partly concealed by it, a grey band ; all the under 

 surface of the body, the thighs, and under tail- coverts white ; 

 under surface of the tail-feathers barred transversely with 

 dusky grey ; legs, toes, and claws, brown. 



The whole length of the male bird is forty-five inches. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, twenty-four 

 inches and a half : the first quill-feather shorter than the 

 second ; the second shorter than the third or the fourth, 

 which are the longest in the wing. 



The whole length of the female is thirty-six inches. From 

 the joint to the end of the wing, nineteen inches and a half. 

 The females generally do not exhibit the lateral plumes from 

 the chin, nor the rufous pectoral band, but in the Transac- 

 tions of the Linnean Society of Bordeaux, M. de Koche- 

 brune has remarked that when the female has arrived at her 

 full growth, at the age of three or four years, she has the 

 same external characters as the male, only somewhat less 

 developed : a statement not confirmed by other authors. 



The young at a month old are covered with a pale buff- 

 coloured down, barred upon the back, wings, and sides with 

 black. 



The outline below is drawn, half the natural size, from 

 the breast-bone of a female of the Great Bustard. 



