22 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXL 



outward difference, however, in these two genera beyond size, and 

 I retain Blyth's classification for these Bustards and place both our 

 birds in the one genus. 



The genus Otis may be distinguished from the other genera of 

 this family by the fact that the crown of the head is never black, 

 and only very short-crested and the short, stout tarsus is only 

 equal to ^ of the length of the wing. 



The Great Bustard, Otis ta/u'da, has no seasonal change of plumage, 

 but the male of the Small Bustard, Otis tetrax, has one. Again, 

 whereas the male of Otis tarda is much bigger than the female, the 

 female of Otis tetrax is certainly as large as the male and sometimes 

 somewhat larger. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



Wing over 15", generally between 18" and 25"... ta/rda. 

 Wing under 15", generally between 9" and 11"... tetrax. 



Otis tarda. 



The Great Bustard. 



Otis ta/rda. — Linn. Syst. Nat. 1, p. 264; Hume, Ibis, 1871, 

 p. 404 ; id., Str. Feath. vii, p. 434 ; Hume and Marsh. Game Birds' 

 I, p. 1, pi.; Hume, Cat. No. 836 bis; Sharpe, Cat. B.M. xxiii, 

 p. 284; id Hand. List. B. i, p. 173; Finn, "Indian Waders" 

 p. 116. Oates, Game-Birds, i, p. 894; id, Eggs of B.M., ii, 

 p. 84; Willoughby Verner, " My Life among the Wild Birds in 

 Spain'' pp. 131 et seq ; Chapman and Buck, " Unexplored 

 Spain" p. 253 ; Fooks, The Field Febr. 11,1911. 



Vernacula/r Name. — Deo-dagh (Chitrali.) 



Description — Adult Male. — General colour above sandy rufous, 

 broadly banded across with black, the bands very strongly marked 

 on the upper back and scapulars, less so on lower back and rump ; 

 upper tail-coverts and tail feathers light bay or vinous-chestnut, 

 barred across with black, some of the bars broken up ; the tail 

 feathers more or less distinctly tipped with white, the outer 

 feathers white at the base, the three outermost almost entirely 

 white, with a broad subterminal band of black ; lesser wing-coverts 

 like the back, with black bars, less closely arranged than on the 



