344 The Crane-like Birds 



and the wing more than three times the length of the tarsus. The South African 

 species, known as the Kori Bustard (E. kori), is a bird of great size, the male 

 attaining a length of over four and one half feet and a weight of between thirty 

 and forty pounds. l is mottled ashy gray above and white below, the neck 

 with a half collar of black in front, and the top of the head with the crest long 

 and black. In the Transvaal, Mr. Ayres found it a not uncommon bird, living 

 principally among the scattered mimosa bushes, and from its great fondness for 

 the gum of these bushes it has received from the Dutch inhabitants the name of 

 Gum-Paauw. They are usually seen single, though sometimes in pairs, which 

 accords with Andersson's observations in Damara and Great Namaqua Land, 

 who says: " This Bustard is usually found in pairs, but sometimes three or four 

 are to be found together. Its flight is heavy, but nevertheless very rapid, and at 

 night when changing its feeding ground it may be seen flying at a very great 

 height." It feeds on insects, berries, reptiles, and the above-mentioned mimosa 

 gum. In some parts of its range its flesh is regarded as excellent eating. 



The Indian Bustard (E. edwardsii) is a little smaller than the Kori and 

 differs, among other points, in having the greater wing-coverts ashy black, with 

 a terminal white spot, instead of white, freckled with black. This species, 

 according to Hume, is common throughout the drier, wilder, and more barren 

 portions of central India and the Punjab, congregating during the rainy season 

 in small flocks. Its favorite food consists of grasshoppers, but it also eats various 

 seeds and fruits. During the breeding season the males display themselves 

 before the females in a manner not unlike that described for the various other 

 species, puffing out the throat, until "he seems to have a huge bag of feathers 

 hanging down between his legs, which wabbles about while he struts here and 

 there, with wings partly unclosed, and occasional sharp snappings of his bill." 

 The nest is a slight depression in the ground, and unlined or thinly lined with 

 a few blades of grass. Hume thinks that but a single egg is laid, since out of 

 a hundred specimens two were never found side by side, although sometimes 

 within a yard or two of each other, these he thinks belonging to different birds. 



Still smaller and slightly darker is the Australian Bustard (E. auslralis), 

 which is the native Turkey of the Swan River colonists. It is a fine-appearing 

 bird, "and," says Gould, "when seen at freedom slowly stalking over its native 

 plains, no Australian bird, except the Emeu, is so majestic, or Assumes in its 

 carriage so great an air of independence." 



Floricans. In the Indian peninsula there are two small Bustards known 

 by the Anglo-Indian name of Floricans, the etymology of which is unknown, but 

 surmised by Newton to be possibly from a mispronunciation of Francolin. 

 They are referred to separate genera, the larger being called the Bengal Flori- 

 can (Houbaropsis bengalensis} and the other the Lesser Florican (Sypheotis 

 aurita). Among other things they may be known by the males being decidedly 

 smaller than the females, and by their undergoing a second spring moult. The 

 first is further distinguished by the presence of a crest on the crown, nape, and 

 hind back, and by the tarsus being nearly half the length of the wing. The plu- 

 mage is largely mottled black above, relieved on the lower back and rump with 



