4 to Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



breed there, but Dr. Scully is of a different 

 opinion. 



There is very little to be gathered re- 

 garding the habits of this Bustard from 

 Indian writers, and I shall therefore quote 

 some remarks of the late Mr. Seebohm 

 concerning it. Speaking of the bird as 

 he found it on the Danubian steppes, he 

 says : " It is a partial migrant, arriving 

 at its breeding grounds in flocks early in 

 April, which are dispersed in May. It 

 is so much less than the Great Bustard, 

 that by the middle of May the grass and 

 the flowers hide it completely from view. 

 The females sit very close and are difficult 

 to find, but the males betray themselves 

 by their curious note. As you drive 

 slowly across the steppes, your attention 

 is arrested by a distant cry, resembling 

 the sound of the syllable spurrtz. By 

 following with the waggon in the direction 

 whence it proceeds for a hundred yards 

 or more, you may generally put up the 

 bird, frequently within shot, but if followed 

 on foot there is little or no chance of 

 securing it. The flight is quite different 

 to that of the Great Bustard, more re- 

 sembling that of the Partridge than that 

 of a Heron. The wings are moved with 

 great rapidity and the flight is very 



