Be 
384 GREAT BUSTARD, 
The long curved beak of the Apteryx has the nostrils very narrow, very 
sinall, and set on at each side of the tip, so that the bird is enabled te pry 
out the worms, and other nocturnal creatures on which it feeds, without 
trusting only to the eyes. The general colcur of the Apteryx is chestnut- 
brown, each feather being tipped with a darker hue, and the underparts are 
lighter than the upper. The height is about two feet. 
Several species of the Apteryx are known. 
ALTHOUGH the progress of civilization has conferred many benefits on this 
country, it has deprived it of many of its aboriginal inhabitants, whether 
furred or feathered, the GREAT BUSTARD being in the latter category. 
This splendid bird, although in former days quite a usual tenant of plains 
and commons, and having been an 
ordinary object of chase on New- 
market Heath, is now so rare, that 
an occasional specimen only makes 
its appearance at very distant inter- 
vals. 
The Great Bustard is not fond of 
flying, its wings having but a slow 
and deliberate movement; but on 
foot it is very swift, and tests the 
speed of dog and horse before it can 
be captured. 
The nest—-if a hole in the ground 
may be called a nest—of this bird 
is generally made among corn, rye, 
&c., although it is sometimes situ- 
ated in rather unexpected localities. 
‘The eggs are two or three in num- 
ber, and of an olive-brown colour, 
splashed with light brown in which 
a green tinge is perceptible. The 
food of the bird is almost wholly 
GREAT BUSTARD.—(O %s farda.) of a vegetable nature, though it 
it is said to feed occasionally upon 
mice, lizards, and other small vertebrates. The flesh of the Bustard is very 
excellent, but the extreme rarity of these birds prevents it from being often 
seen upon English tables. When caught young, the Bustard can be readily 
tamed, and soon becomes quite familiar with those who treat it kindly. 
The head and upper part of the neck are greyish white, and upon the side 
of the neck there is a small patch of slaty blue bare skin, almost concealed 
by the curious feather tuft which hangs over it. The upper part of the body 
is pale chestnut barred with black, and the tail is of similar tints with a 
white tip, and a very broad black band next to the white extremity. The 
wing-coverts, together with the tertials, are white, and the primaries black. 
The under surface of the body is white. The total length of an adult male 
is about forty-five inches. 
THE Wading Birds are well furnished with legs and feet formed for 
walking, and in many species the legs are greatly elongated, so as to enable 
them to walk in the water while they pick their food out of the waves. 
In the British Museum the Plovers head the list of Waders. 
THE well-known LAPWING, or PEEWIT, is celebrated for many reasons. 
Its wheeling flapping flight is so peculiar as to attract the notice of everyone 
who has visited the localities in which it resides, and its strange, almost 
articulate, cry is equally familiar. When it fears danger, it rises from its 
