GREAT BUSTARD. 61 



alighting, or rising undisturbed; neither did I again see them, 

 or any birds like them. 



The bustard is really a splendid bird. The male, when 

 full grown, is four feet in length, and nine in the extent of 

 the wings; and the weight is from twenty-five to thirty 

 pounds. The bill is greyish; but the legs, which are not 

 feathered quite down to the tarsi, are black ; and the three 

 toes are all turned forward, but with an elastic pad as a heel. 

 In form, the foot does not differ much from that of the little 

 bustard, which is represented in the following figure : 



Walking and Running Feet. 



^Ring-Dove. 



Little Bustard. 



The hinder toe is wanting, as in all the running birds, in 

 consequence of which the rest of the foot acts as a complete 

 and free spring, and projects them forward without any pause 

 or interruption, so that they acquire a momentum, and by 

 that means run fast with comparatively little exertion. 



The plumage is strongly marked. The head is of an 

 ashen-grey, with the exception of a black streak along the 

 middle. The feathers on the chin are long and wiry, and at 

 the base of the lower mandible form a tuft on each side, 

 which hangs eight or nine inches down the neck. These 



