66 CURSORES. 



which, until they can fly, which is late in the season, the 

 young birds squat so close that it is not difficult to take them 

 with the hand. When plumed they take wing more easily 

 than many lighter birds. 



In Norfolk, where only the birds are now found in England, 

 they frequent the large corn fields in summer, and the turnip 

 grounds in winter. If the winter is severe, they sometimes 

 migrate nearer the coast, at which times they appear in little 

 flocks ; but they are usually persecuted in their journey and 

 in their temporary abode. They are polygamous ; but not- 

 withstanding, it is said that there is a deficiency of male 

 birds. They are much more abundant in some parts of 

 France than in England, and in the dry wastes of the south 

 of Russia, toward the Black Sea, they are still more plentiful ; 

 but they are always found on the dry wastes, and never in 

 the marshes, or even where the surface is soft. The fact is, 

 the structure of their feet adapts them only to firm land, 

 and as they cannot perch, and are not well formed for 

 making their way among bushes, they are never found but in 

 the open country. The epithet tarda, or slow, which was 

 applied to the great bustard in the time of the Romans, and 

 now forms its specific name, is not used with reference to the 

 common motions of the bird, but to the pertinacity with 

 which the young and the female bird, when hatching, retain 

 their place on the ground. 



THE LITTLE BUSTARD (OtlS tetrax). 



The little bustard is a very rare straggler in Britain, and 

 when one does make its appearance, it is generally in the 

 autumn and winter. Above, it is beautifully mottled with 

 brown and black, with a tinge of pale rose colour on the 

 breast ; the under part is white with black spots. The full- 

 grown male has a black collar in the summer, which is 

 wanting in the female and the young male, and it is sup- 



