448 RASORES. OTIS. Bustard. 



in Sussex, having the apparent plumage of the female, but 

 also, on dissection, proving otherwise, has led me to doubt 

 the assertion of various writers, that all the individuals kiUed 

 in Britain had been of the female sex ; and I can only ac- 

 count for the assertion, by concluding it to have arisen from 

 the contrast observable between these specimens and the male, 

 as seen in his summer attire, without the more certain crite- 

 rion above mentioned having been attempted. 



Whether this feminine plumage is confined to young 

 birds, or is the proper garb of the males of all ages during 

 the winter, I am sorry that I cannot, from ray own experi- 

 ence, determine, but I feel inclined to lean to the latter opi- 

 nion *, and which is considerably strengthened by the infor- 

 mation I have received from Captain Robert Mitfoud, 

 R. N., who, during a long station in the Mediterranean, had 

 opportunities of examining the Little Bustard at all seasons 

 of the year, and who does not recollect having killed any 

 in the winter with a black neck, and other distinguishing 

 marks which a male invariably possesses during the summer 

 or pairing season "f. 

 Food. This species is graminivorous, and its digestive organ is 



membranaceous and very large. In the specimen I have be- 

 fore alluded to, it was distended with a mass of various 

 grasses and the stems of clover, intermixed with the seeds of 

 cow-parsnip {Heracleum spliondylium), and of other umbelli- 

 ferous plants. No gravel, or other hard substance, generally 

 used by birds possessing strong muscular stomachs or giz- 

 zards, was contained in it ; from which it appears that Mon- 

 tagu's views are correct \^ and that the gastric juice alone is 



* I have since ascertained that the male Little Bustard undergoes a 

 change of plumage every spring, when he assumes the black neck and col- 

 lar (as afterwards described). His winter plumage resembles that of the 

 female bird. 



t Temminck, in his remarks on the Bustard Genus, intimates his 

 suspicion, that the males in winter may resemble the other sex in plu- 

 mage. 



X See Supplement to Ornith. Diet, article Little Bustard. 



