NATURAL HISTORY. 

 Sub-family d. Otina.(Gi\ 'Orif, a Bustard.) 



OTUS. 



339 



Tarda (Lat. slow), the Great Bustard. 



The GREAT BUSTARD, our English representative of the Otidse, 

 is now scarcely ever seen in this country, although formerly it 

 was tolerably common. It runs with great swiftness, and will 

 never rise on the wing until forced, so that instances have been 

 known of bustards being captured by greyhounds. It is ex- 

 ceedingly wary, and can hardly be approached within gun-shot, 

 except by adopting some disguise, as a labourer with the gun 

 in his wheelbarrow, or by driving a cart or a carriage by the 

 spot where it is feeding. 



The male Bustard possesses a membranous pouch on the 

 fore part of the neck, capable of holding six or seven pints of 

 water. There is an opening to this pouch under the tongue, 

 and its use is possibly, like that of the pelican, to carry water 

 for the use of the young, but this is not ascertained. The 



