LITTLE BUSTARD. 19.3 



sent species is either wanting, or only appears in its imma- 

 ture or winter plumage. The hen bird makes no nest, but 

 scratches a hollow place under some thick foliage of weeds, 

 or among long grasses, and deposits her eggs (three, four, or 

 five) on the bare ground ; and as soon as the young are hatched 

 they follow the mother in search of insects, and keep very 

 close in the standing com, where the male bird chiefly passes 

 his solitary life during that time of the year. 



The Bustard figured in our Plate is the adult male in sum- 

 mer plumage, in which it appears very different from its 

 winter dress, and also from the feathering of the female at all 

 seasons. The female has no black about the head, throat, or 

 breast, nor any pendant or bushy feathering ; her head and 

 neck are pencilled with black on the general buff ground 

 colour that pervades all the upper parts of the feathering. 



The egg figured 160 is that of the Little Bustard. 



ic2 



