450 CLASS AVES. 



M. Temminck, who describes but three species of bustards 

 in the second edition of his Manual of Ornithology, divides 

 them into two sections, the first of which comprehends the 

 great and little bustard, and is distinguished by mandibles, 

 compressed at the base ; and the second, the ruffed bustard 

 (otis houbara), in which the mandibles are depressed at the 

 same place. 



Considerable differences have been remarked in the weight, 

 length, extent of wings, and general proportions, in various 

 individuals of the species of the great bustard ; but assuming 

 a middle term, the average length of the male may be con- 

 sidered nearly four feet, from the tip of the bill to that of the 

 tail, the weight about twenty pounds, or more, and the enver- 

 gure about seven feet. The dimensions of the female are 

 one-third less than those of the male ; and many other 

 variations are observed, all referable to the number of 

 years which this bird takes to acquire its complete de- 

 velopment. The male bustard is the most bulky of our ter- 

 restrial birds in Europe. Some variations have been 

 remarked in its winter plumage, and the female is without 

 the mustachios by which the male is distinguished, and the 

 tints of her plumage are not equally strong. 



The sides of the tongue of this bustard are distinguished 

 by pointed papillae, and in the palate and interior part of the 

 bill, are small glands, the pores of which are very visible. 

 Some of these are also in the passage of the oesophagus. But 

 what is most remarkable is, a sort of sac or pouch, discovered 

 by Dr. Douglas in the upper part of the neck of the male 

 bird, and figiu*ed by Edwards in his seventy-third plate. A 

 figure of it may also be seen in Bewick"'s History of our 

 English Birds, published at Newcastle in 1797- This sin- 

 gular reservoir, the entrance of which is under the tongue, 

 may contain many pints of water, destined to serve as a pro- 

 vision in the midst of the arid plains inhabited bv the bus- 



