Great Bustard of hidia. 5tS 



the Trichechus. It comprises, besides, the animals of the 

 fourth order of Cuvier, or the Marsupia. 



Order 4. Gli^res; from the Latin g/w, a dormouse. Two 

 incisive teeth in each jaw; no canine teeth. This order is the 

 same as the fifth, or Rongeurs of Cuvier. 



Order 5. Pe'cora ; from the Latin pecus, cattle. This or- 

 der corresponds with the Rumin antes of Cuvier. No incisive 

 teeth in the upper jaw. 



Order 6. Be'llu^, from the Latin bellua, a great beast. 

 Obtuse incisive teeth in each jaw. This order corresponds 

 with the Pachydermes of Cuvier. 



Order 7. Ce'te. The same as the ninth order of Cuvier. 



If we regard those systems of classification as the most per- 

 fect in which objects are grouped together according to their 

 most essential characters and resemblances, we must admit 

 that the Cuvierian arrangement is a great improvement of the 

 Linnean in the first four orders ; but the infinite variety of 

 nature cannot be strictly comprised in any general system ; 

 and we shall have to notice, as we proceed, that some of the 

 genera or species in several of the orders approach so near 

 those in other orders, as to render it doubtful where they 

 should be placed. The next essay will contain the whole of 

 Cuvier's interesting description of the first order — Man. 



B. 



Art. V. Description of the Great Bustard of India, 'with Notices 

 of some other Indian Bustards. By A Subscriber. 



Sir, 



From there being no mention made of the Great Bustard 

 of India in part xxi. of Griffith's Animal Kingdom, just 

 published, which professes to notice " all the species hitherto 

 named," I am inclined to believe it little known to European 

 naturalists ; a description of it may, therefore, be acceptable 

 to your readers. 



Length from bill to tail, 3 ft. 9 in. ; height, 4 ft. 3 in. ; 

 breadth, 8 ft. 2 in. ; weight, about 30 lbs. Bill 2| in. long, 

 straight, carinated, depressed at the base, entire and bending 

 near the tip, the ridge generally blackish, the rest greenish 

 horn colour ; nostrils elongated, almost 1 in. in length, parallel 

 to the sides of the bill, and partly covered by a vaulted mem- 

 brane ; the whole bill exactly resembling that of the florican 

 of India, and much more slender and less arched than that of 

 the O^tis tarda in Edw. PI. 73, 74. The iris, orange ; crown, 

 black ; the feathers rather long and loose ; a bare skin, of a 

 greenish colour, extends from the angle of the mouth back- 



