Eggs. 
$32 CURSORES. OTIS. LaitrLe BustTarp. 
Whether this feminine plumage is confined to young birds, 
or is the proper garb of the males of all ages dnring the winter, 
I am sorry that I cannot, from my own experience, deter- 
mine, but I feel inclined to lean to the latter opinion; and 
which is considerably strengthened by the information I have 
received from Captain Mirrorp, R.N., who, during a long 
station in the Mediterranean, had opportunities of examining 
the Little Bustard at all seasons of the year, and who does 
not recollect having killed any in winter with the black neck, 
collar, &c., the distinguishing marks which the male invaria- 
bly possesses during the summer, or pairing-season *. 
This species is graminivorous, and its digestive organ is 
membranaceous and very large. In the specimen I have be- 
fore alluded to, it was distended with a mass of various gras- 
ses and the stems of clover, intermixed with the seeds of cow- 
parsnip (Heracleum spondylium), and of other umbelliferous 
plants. No gravel, or other hard substance, generally used 
by birds possessing strong muscular stomachs or gizzards, was 
contained in it; from which it appears that Montacu’s views 
are correct f, and that the gastric juice alone is sufficiently 
powerful, without attrition, to effect the complete dissolution 
of the food in many herbivorous or granivorous birds. ‘The 
Little Bustard will also feed eagerly upon grain, and it is 
said to devour worms and insects. 
It lays its eggs upon the bare ground, under cover of the 
herbage, or low plants, such as the cistus, &c. growing upon 
the plains it usually frequents. ‘The eggs are from three te 
five in number, and of a clear shining grass-green colour, 
without spot or stain. 
When suddenly disturbed, this bird immediately takes wing, 
flying with considerable strength and velocity, from fifty to a 
hundred yards, raised but little above the surface of the 
* TEmMInck, in his remarks on the Bustard Genus, intimates his 
suspicion, that the males in winter may resemble the.other sex in plu- 
mage. 
+ See Supplement to Ornith. Dict. Article Little Bustard. 
