OTIS. 



view in the summer season ; and when danger comes upon the 

 Little Bustard, in the shape of a man or dog, it squats close 

 to the ground, and there remains until it is past. 



The general appearance of the Little Bustard is in many 

 respects like that of the former species, but, as its name 

 announces, it is much smaller in size : it runs on the ground 

 with the same bearing and with more agility. When the 

 present species alights, it generally runs for several hundred 

 yards along the ground in a straight line, which contributes 

 much to its safety, and often procures its escape from the 

 uninformed gunner, who is certain in his own mind of having 

 kept his eye upon the very spot where the bird alighted. 

 The Little Bustard runs also much faster than the Great 

 Bustard, and, when a single bird is in a certain spot, it 

 does not take wing so soon if it is pursued or approached by 

 the enemy ; but, when a family or many of the species are 

 congregated together, they no sooner see a person approach, 

 but they take wing and fly quickly away, high in the 

 air. 



The note of the male bird sounds like the syllable proot ! 

 proot ! which is more frequently uttered during the night : 

 the nestlings and young chirp like chickens. 



During the summer the Little Bustard feeds principally on 

 insects and their larvae, such as large beetles, grasshoppers, 

 ants and their eggs ; and also on the hearts of vegetable pro- 

 ductions, such as cabbages, turnips, and young or green 

 corn. Water does not appear to be of much service either to 

 the Great or Little Bustard. In the month of April the 

 Little Bustards make arrangements for breeding, by resorting 

 to their usual breeding-places, namely, level, dry, and well 

 cultivated ground. The male bird is polygamous, and the 

 proportionate number of hen birds is not only obviously 

 larger than that of the other sex, but there are numberless col- 

 lections of stuffed birds in Europe, where the male of the pre- 



