1847.] On the Charj, or Otis Bengalensis. 887 



amid the scattered tufts of more open grassplats he can be neared 

 with difficulty only, and No. 5 and a good heavy gun are required to 

 bring him down at 40 to 60 yards' distance. His flight is strong, 

 with a frequent, rapid, even, motion of the wings, and, if he be at all 

 alarmed, it is seldom suspended under 2 to 300 yards, whilst not 

 unfrequently it is continued so as to carry the bird wholly out of sight 

 and pursuit. When flying the neck is extended before the body and 

 the legs tucked up under it, whereas the whole family of the Herons 

 fly with neck retracted over the back, and legs stretched out behind ; 

 differences the rationale of which can as little be conjectured as the 

 gyrations of the Dog ere he lays himself down to repose. The walk 

 of the Charj, like that of the Heron, is firm and stately, easy and 

 graceful : he can move a foot with much speed, and is habitually a 

 great pedestrian, seldom using his powerful wings except to escape 

 from danger, or to go to and from his feeding ground, at morn and. 

 eve, or to change it when he has exhausted a beat. This species is 

 silent and tranquil, and seldom utters a sound, but if startled, its note 

 is a shrill metallic clink, chik-chik, and the more ordinary note is the 

 same but softer and somewhat plaintive. The amorous ditty of the 

 male has already been mentioned. The female is silent on those 

 occasions. 



Aspect , form, and size. — The Charj or Dabar is a largish and very 

 graceful bird, measuring 2 to 2} feet from tip of bill to tip of tail, and 

 3^ to 4 feet in expanse of wings, and weighing 3 to 4 ibs. Bill to gape 

 2\ inch, to brow \\. Wing 14 inches. Tail 7. Tarse 6 to 6^. Central 

 toe and nail 2\. The bill is short and rasorial, or rather crane-like, 

 (Anthopoides.) The eye, large and soft. The head depressed, and 

 adorned, in the males, with a full pendant crest. The neck, long and 

 thin, but in the males set off with a beautiful series of hackles or slender 

 composed plumes depending from the whole front of the neck. The 

 body is plump. The wings ample and firm. The tail, short, broad 

 and rounded ; and the legs, long and suited to much walking. I will 

 now give some more minute details which the incurious can pass over. 

 Bill to gape, equal to head, considerably depressed towards the base, 

 and at the base twice as broad as high. Maxilla more than half ex- 

 cided by a large membranous and plumed fosse in which the elliptic 

 nares are situated. Towards the tip the maxilla is rounded, full and 



