MACQUEEN'S BUSTARD. 591 



OTIS MACQUEENI. 

 MACQUEEN'S BUSTARD. 



(Plate 21.) 



Otis macqueenii, Qray, III. Ind. Zool. ii. pi. 47 (1834) ; et auctorum plurimorum — 



Degland 8^ Gerhe, (Jerdon), Blanford, Dresser, Saunders, &c, 

 Houbara macqueeni {Qray), Gray, List B. Brit. Mus. pt iii. p. 57 (1844). 

 Eupodotis macqueeni {Gray), Gray, Gen. B. iii. p. 533 (1845). 

 Otis houbara, Desf. apud Naumann, Temminck, Gould, &c. 



Macqueen's Bustard ranges sufficiently far north in Asia to place it 

 under the influence of the great autumn stream of migration that pro- 

 ceeds from that region westwards into Europe, where it has frequently 

 occurred. The claim of Macqueen's Bustard to be regarded as a British 

 bird rests upon a single example which was shot by Mr. G. Huusley on 

 the 7th of October, 1847, in a stubble-field on Kirton cliff at Kirton- 

 in-Lindsey, in the county of Lincoln (' Zoologist,' 1848, pp. 1969, 2065, 

 2146) . This specimen is now in the museum of the Philosophical Society 

 at York. 



The breeding-range of Macqueen's Bustard appears to be confined, so 

 far as is known, to Turkestan, from Yarkand to the eastern shores of the 

 Caspian, extending northwards into the extreme south-west of Siberia, as 

 far east as Lake Saisan, and southwards into Persia and Afghanistan. It 

 winters in South Persia, Baluchistan, Scind, and the Punjaub. Further 

 east, in Mongolia, a small Bustard occurs, but no specimen ha« yet been 

 obtained. To the west, in Armenia, Palestine, and North Africa, a nearly 

 allied species occurs, O. houbara, from which Macqueen's Bustard differs 

 in having the crest-feathers black on the terminal portion, instead of being 

 pure white ; the upper parts are lighter and more finely vermiculated, and 

 the elongated feathers on the lower throat are grey instead of white. 

 Macqueen's Bustard only occurs accidentally in Europe; but examples 

 have been obtained in North Germany, Belgium, South Denmark, Poland, 

 the Baltic Provinces, and even in Finland and Italy. 



Macqueen's Bustard, or the Houbara as it is often erroneously called, 

 like its congeners, is a bird of the open plains — broad stretches of undu- 

 lating country covered with vegetation, where the wary bird can always 

 keep a good look out in every direction, and where it is only approached 

 with the greatest difficulty. Except in the breeding-season, it is a gre- 

 garious bird. During the heat of the day the flocks are said to lie very 

 close, when they can be easily approached, as they are flushed with diflficulty. 

 In some parts of India this handsome bird is fond of frequenting fields 



