488 SIR W. ELLIOT ON THE INDIAN BUSTARD. [JunC 15, 



pint bottle ; it held the contents of seven with ease. I thought at one 

 time this organ might be intended to enable the bird to carry a supply 

 of water in the hot season when every thing is dried up ; but consider- 

 ing the solitary habits of the bird, and that the male alone is furnished 

 with such an appendage, I incline to Dr. Murie's opinion that it is 

 an organ of sound to attract the females in the breeding-season. 



The following were the measurements of an average-sized male 

 bird weighing 2S lbs. : — 



inches. 



Length from point of beak to end of tail 48 



Height, standing 41 



Length of leg 22 



,, „ tarsus 8| 



Expansion of wings 7 ft. 7 



As may be supposed, so remarkable a bird, so widely distributed, has 

 manvnative names. It is the "tokdar" of the Mahomedan falconers ; 

 ^^ tughderV in Turkish; " yere-Iaddu" of the Canarese ; " batta 

 niekha" of the Yauadis or nomade bird-catchers; " gunad'^ of the 

 Pardis or northern bird-catchers. In Rajpntana, Gwalior, and 

 Bundelkund it goes by the name of " huknaj' from its note on being 

 frightened, which the villagers compare to the sound " huk, huk." 

 In Sagar they are called " hherarT 



A well-known contributor to the 'Bengal Sporting Magazine,' under 

 the nom de phone of " Gunga" (Dr. Brown), says that " during the 

 breeding-season the cock calls like a lion — a kind of booming growl, 

 whence its native local wame oi gooraeen" (guraginy. In other 

 parts, he adds, " it is called gugunbher^ and sohun." 



P.S. — Since the foregoing was read, I have read Prof. Newton's 

 paper in the ' Ibis' (vol. iv. p. 107, 1862), in which, with reference to 

 some disparaging remarks of a continental writer on the statements 

 of certain English naturalists, he gives an exhaustive summary of all 

 that has been recorded ou the subject of this peculiar structure of the 

 Bustard. From this it appears that its true nature is still involved in 

 doubt. 



The occurrence of a gular pouch in the male of Otis tarda was first 

 discovered, but not published, by Dr. James Douglas, F.R.C.P., 

 before 1740. It is fully described by Edwards (Nat. Hist. B. ii. 

 tab. 73) ; and this view seems to have been accepted till 1848, when 

 Prof. Owen, in making a preparation of the head and neck of a male 

 bird for the Mus. Coll. of Surgeons, stated that there was " no trace 

 of a gular pouch." In 1853 Mr. Yarrell contributed a paper to the 

 Linn. Trans, (vol. xxi. p. 159), in which he conies to the same con- 

 clusion. He was followed by Mr. Newton himself, whose exami- 

 nation failed to detect the existence of a separate distinct pouch 

 with an external opening from above, and left it in doubt whether any 



^ Probably from the Hiudustani " gurgnrdra," to thuuder, to roll, to roar like 

 a tiger. 



^ From " gvgan," the sky, and " bherna," to hide=sky-luder. 



