34 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



Now the light air wafts to our ear the tumultuous pulsations of 

 giant wings and five seconds later that erst empty ether is crowded 

 with two score huge forms. What a scene — and what commotion 

 as, realising the danger, each great bird with strong and laboured 

 wing-stroke swerves aside. One enormous harbon directly over- 

 head receives first attention ; a second, full broadside, presents no 

 more difficulty, and ere the double thuds behind have attested the 

 result, we realize that a third, shying off from our neighbour, is 

 also ' our meat '." 



The Bustard breeds all over Central and Southern Europe, 

 where there is suitable country obtainable, and in former days was 

 often known to breed in England, especially in the South-Eastern 

 countries. Its strongholds in Europe, however, are Spain and 

 Central and Southern E-ussia. From Europe it extends to Nor- 

 thern Africa and through Asia Minor and Persia as far as the 

 extreme N.-W. of India andjinto Afghanistan. The birds seen and 

 recorded from Eastern Siberia and China are the nearly allied 

 species, dyhowskii, which is often not distinguishable from our 

 bird. 



During the courting season the male is said to display the most 

 extravagant anticks. Finn says that when courting "the male 

 combines the extravagances of the Pouter or Eantail pigeons be- 

 sides turning much of his plumage the wrong way," to this 

 combination he may be said to add many of the courting attitudes 

 of the Turkey. Where there is a slight eminence, handy proceed- 

 ings are usually commenced by the bird climbing up this and 

 calling loudty until a female or females are attracted, when he 

 descends and goes through a variety of Strutting and bowing 

 actions until he thinks he has won the heart of the coveted female. 

 He also erects his feathers, spreads his tail and displays his wings 

 in a training position and struts round his bride much as a 

 Turkey does. These actions and the curious twisting of the 

 feathers are most beautifully shown in a plate opposite p. 260 

 in " Unexplored Spain," and this plate also shows how the general 

 appearance becomes white during the pre-nuptial contortions and 

 displays. 



The Bustard is polj^gamous, but it is rather unfair to the male 



