Taps. LX XIII, LXXIV., er LXXV. 
OTIS HIMALAYANUS. 
Ot. niger ; alts albis ; dorso medio scapularibusque pallido-rufo brunneoque variegatis ; dorso imo 
palldo-rufo undulatim sparso; criste collique plumis anterioribus et posterioribus confertis, 
elongatis. 
Longitudo corporis, 21 unc.; rostri, 2; ale, 13; tarsi, 54. 
Or all the Bustards, the Ors Himalayanus is perhaps the most interesting, on account of the differences in 
plumage between the adult males and females, and the young, all of which might pass for separate and distinct 
species. Nor is this difference in plumage limited merely to the sexes or young, for we have every reason to 
believe that the adult males, which are distinguished during summer by long flowing feathers from the occiput 
and chest, lose these graceful ornaments when the season for breeding has passed. The Plates exhibiting the 
adult male and female, and the young male, fully illustrate the differences alluded to. Though far from common, 
this remarkable species seems spread as well over the plains as the hilly districts; specimens of the young 
having been received from the neighbourhood of Calcutta, while the specimen from which the figure in 
Tab. LXXTII. was taken, and which is now deposited in the rich Museum of the Zoological Society, was 
received from the Himalayan mountains. This last is the only example of the adult male in full plumage 
which we have ever seen. Like the rest of the more typical of their race, they frequent the wild and open 
country, and are equally valued for the table with the Oris nigriceps. Of the nidification and eggs nothing 
has been ascertained. 
The adult male has the occiput and sides of the chest ornamented with long plumes; the colour of the 
head, neck, and under parts is of a uniform deep black; back and wing-coverts are pale ‘rufous variegated and 
blotched with brown; the wings are white; the quills dark brown; the tail black tipped with white; the 
beak is dark brown; the tarsi brown. 
In the young male, the back of the head is only slightly crested, and the chest wants the flowing feathers ; 
the under part alone is black, the head and neck being light rufous with zigzag marks of brown ; the tail is 
black tipped with white. 
The adult female resembles the young male in plumage, except that the black of the under surface is ex- 
changed for a pale fawn colour ; her general colour is in fact light rufous beautifully variegated with brown 
markings, which are large and conspicuous on the wings, but small and indistinct on the neck and chest, and 
lost on the abdomen. ) 
The figures represent the respective birds in the proportion of three fourths of their natural size. 
