206 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



Whose presence this Island regards now as rare, 

 Came, also, to visit the Lord of the Air. 



tics of the tribe are, bill strong, a little incurvated ; toes three 

 before, none behind ; legs long, and naked above the knees. 

 The following, found in this country, are all that it is necessary 

 to describe. 



The Tarda, or Great-Bustard, is said to be the largest of 

 the British birds, sometimes weighing as much as thirty pounds ; 

 fouud in some parts of this country, and inhabits also the open 

 plains of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its colour is wave-spotted 

 with black, and rufous ; beneath white ; length four feet ; fe- 

 male not so large, weighing about twelve pounds ; she has also 

 different shades of colour. The male has a long pouch, be- 

 ginning under the tongue, and reaching to the breast, capable 

 of holding several quarts of water, supposed to be for supplying 

 the hen whilst sitting on the young, before they can fly with that 

 fluid. It feeds on grains and herbs; is solitary, shy, and timid ; 

 flies heavily, but runs swiftly; is quick of sight and hearing; 

 lays two pale olive-brown eggs, with darker spots, in a hole 

 scraped in the ground. In autumn they are gregarious, when 

 they leave the open downs for more sheltered situations. The 

 eggs are eagerly sought after, for the purpose of hatching under 

 hens: they have been reared thus in Wiltshire, As they are 

 very valuable birds, and eagerly sought after, they are become 

 scarce ; they are still said to exist on some of the Wiltshire 

 downs, but, from the latest information which I can collect, 

 this may be doubted. From a paper lately read before the 

 Linnean Society by Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear, it ap- 

 pears, however, that they now breed in the open parts of 

 Suffolk and Norfolk. Mr. Hardy, of Norwich, has domesticated 

 this bird, whether with advantage to its more productive powers 

 we are not informed. 



Tet rax, Little-Bustard, or Field- Bustard, is about the 

 size of a pheasant, being in length seventeen inches ; the back 



