THE GAME BIRDS OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 4o 



" They are broad-breasted, compact, strong birds but withal 

 easily killed though perhaps less so than the Florican." 



The food of" this Little Bustard is as varied as that of its big- 

 cousin, and though it lives principally on grain and green food it 

 will devour anything in the insect line, and also slugs, snails, 

 worms, and even small lizards, frogs, etc. 



As an article for the table, opinions differ greatly, but whilst 

 many consider it a delicacy, few condemn it altogether, and it 

 certainly ranks as food not to be despised when once it has been 

 shot. Messrs. Chapman and Buck declares "its flesh to be both 

 delicate and delicious." 



Dresser says that during the breeding season the male has a 

 harsh cry why may be syllablized as tree, trece, and which can be 

 heard from a great distance, and Ool. Willoughby Verner says that 

 when alarmed " it utters a loud gutteral rattling cry, somewhat 

 similar to that of a grouse calling in early morning and even more 

 like that given by the Bustard which we came across on the veldt 

 between the Orange and Modder Rivers during the eventful days of 

 November 1899." 



The Lesser Bustard, like other birds of the family, is generally 

 considered to be polygamous, and constant fighting between the 

 males goes on throughout the breeding season for the females, 

 who appear to be indifferent to what male takes them as long as 

 they have a husband of some kind — Messrs. Chapman and Buck, 

 however, disagreeing with the above write : " They are strictly 

 monogamous, yet the males 'shew off' in the same fantastic way 

 as great Bustard and Blackcock. " 



In the more Northern parts of its breeding range the eggs of 

 the Lesser Btistard are laid late in May and early in June, but 

 further South most will be found in the first fortnight of May and 

 some in the end of April. 



I have eggs from East Prussia, dated 26th June, and another 

 clutch from Italy, dated loth April. 



Their breeding habits and nidification, if such it can be called, 

 seem to closely resemble those of the Great Bustard. There is 

 no nest, though sometimes the depression which contains the eggs 

 may be more or less filled up with grass and weeds, and the 



