OTIDIN  1. 
Eupodotis  Less.* 
Bill  more  or  less  lengthened,  :md  rather  slender,  broad  at  the  base,  and  the  sides  gradually  compressed 
to  the  tip,  which  is  emarginated  ;  the  culmen  rather  depressed  and  straight  above  the  nasal  groove,  and 
then  slightly  curved  to  the  tip;  the  gonys  generally  long  and  straight ;  the  nostrils  basal,  lateral,  placed 
in  a  large  nasal  groove,  partly  closed  by  a  membrane,  leaving  the  opening  large  and  of  a  lengthened 
oval.    The  other  characters  similar  to  the  former  genus. 
The  extensive  sandy  and  gra.->y  plains  and  open  cultivated  country  of  Asia  and  Africa  are  the  peculiar  localities  of 
these  birds.  They  arc  usually  seen  singly,  occasionally  in  small  parties  of  three  or  four  together,  and  sometimes  in 
Hocks  of  twenty  or  more  feeding  in  company.  It  is  in  the  morning  early  that  they  chiefly  seek  their  food,  and  at  this 
time  they  are  wary  and  easily  raised;  but  during  the  heat  of  the  day  they  lie  close,  either  in  the  long  grass,  or  in  the 
Bhade  of  some  hush,  and  are  then  flushed  with  difficulty.  They  rarely  proceed  far  on  the  wing,  and  generally 
endeavour  to  escape  their  various  enemies  by  running,  especially  in  open  places  ;  but,  when  migrating  to  a  fresh  locality 
in  search  of  food,  their  flight  is  performed  with  a  continued  flapping  of  the  wings.  Their  chief  food  consists  of  various 
orthopterous  and  coleopterous  insects,  centipedes,  and  lizards,  also  several  sorts  of  grain  and  seeds.  They  utter  a  loud 
hoarse  call  when  alarmed  ;  but  the  male  at  other  times  may  be  seen,  says  Mr.  Jcrdon,  strutting  about  on  some  high 
ground,  expanding  his  tail,  ruffling  his  wings,  and  distending  his  neck  and  throat,  making  the  feathers  stand  up  like  a 
rurtj  emitting  at  the  same  time  a  moaning  noise.    The  females  usually  deposit  one  or  two  eggs  on  the  bare  ground. 
1.  E.  cristata  (Scop.)  Sonn.  Voy.  N.  Guin.  t.  4.0. — Otis  lu- 
coniensis  Vieill. ;  O.  Kori  Burch.  Trav.  S.  Afr.  i.  393.  402.,  Riipp. 
Mus.  Senck.  1387.  t.  13. 
2.  E.  Edwardsii  (Gray),  111.  I  nil.  Zool.  pL  59-  —  Otis  nigriceps 
Vigors,  Gould,  Cent.ofB.pl.  72.,  Loudon,  Mag.  of  Nat.  Hist,  iii 
p.  517-  f.  125.  (bill). 
3.  E.  auttraKs  (Gray),  Griff.  An.  Kingil.  iii.  p.  305. — Otis 
australasianus  Gould,  B.  of  Austr.  pi. 
4.  E.  arabs  (  Linn.)  Less.  Edwards's  Birds,  pi.  1 2.,  Riipp.  Atlas, 
t.  16.  — Otis  abyssinica  Cray. 
5.  E.  nuba  (Riipp.)  Less.  Zool.  Atlas,  t.  1. 
(j.  E.  Denhami  (Childr.)  Less.  An.  Kingd.  Birds,  iii.  p.  303. 
and  pi.  in  p.  455. 
7.  E.  caffra  (Licht.)  Less.  Cat.  Berl.  Mus.  1793.  No.  711,  712. 
—  O.  ruficollis  Cuv.  Wagl.  Isis,  1831.  519.  ;  O.  Stanleyi  Gray ; 
O.  Colesii  Ecklon.  ? 
8.  E.  Ludwigii  (Riipp.)  Mus.  Senck.  1837.  t.  14. —  Otis  Colesii 
A.  Smith. 
Q.  E.  afra  (Gmel.)  Less.  Lath.  Syn.  pi.  69.  —  Otis  atra  Linn. 
10.  E.  afroides  (A.  Smith)  Less.  111.  Zool.  S.  Afr.  pi.  1 9. 
11.  E.  ruficrista  (A.  Smith).  111.  Zool.  S.  Afr.  pi.  4. 
12.  E.  Vigorsii  (A.  Smith),  Less.  Proc.  Z.  S.  1830.  p.  11.— 
Otis  scolopacea  Temm.  PI.  col.  570".  ;  O.  toiquata  Cuv. 
IS.  ?  E.  rhaad  (Gmel.)  Less.  Shaw's  Trav.  p.  255.  f.  2. 
1 4.  E.  earulescens  (Vieill.)  Less.  Ency.  Meth.  p.  334.,  PI.  col. 
532.  —  Otis  ferox  aut  O.  Verrauxii  A.  Smith  ;  O.  cana  Licht. 
15.  E.  senegalensis  (Vieill.)  Less.  Ency.  Meth.  p.  333.  —  Otis 
rhaad  Riipp.  Mus.  Senck.  1837.  t.  15. ;  O.  Barrowii  Gray. 
16.  E.  mclanogaster  (Riipp.)  Less.  Faun.  Abyss,  t.  7-,  Riipp. 
Syst.  Uebers.  Vog.  Nord-Ost-Afr.  t.  41. 
17.  E.  bcngalcnsis  (Gmel.)  Edwards's  Birds,  pi.  250.  —  Otis 
himalayana  Vigors,  Gould,  Cent,  of  Birds,  pi.  73,  74,  75.  ;  O.  de- 
liciosa  Gray,  111.  Ind.  Zool.  pi.  ()2. 
18.  E.  aurita  (Lath.)  Jard.  &  Selby's  111.  Oin.  pi.  40.  92. — 
Otis  indica  Milt.  ;  O.  gularis  Cuv.  ?  ;  O.  fulva  Sykes,  Belang.  Voy. 
dans  Ind.  Or.  Ois.  t.  10.,  PI.  col.  533.  ;  O.  marmorata  Gray,  111. 
Ind.  Zool.  pi.  o'O. ;  O.  atriceps  Gray  ;  Type  of  Syphcotides  Less. 
(1839). 
19.  E.  undulutu  (Jacq.)  Jacq.  Vog.  t.  9.  —  Otis  houbara  Gmel.  ; 
Gould,  B.  of  Eur.  pi.  268.,  Vieill.  Gal.  des  Ois.  t.  227-  ;  Type  of 
Houbara  Pr.  Bonap.  (1832). 
20.  E.  Macqueeni  Gray,  111.  Ind.  Zool.  ii.  pi.  47. 
*  It  was  in  1839  that  M.  Lesson  established  this  genus  {Rev.  Zool.  183.9.  p.  47.).  It  contains  Houbara  (1832)  of  the  Prince  of 
Casino  (with  which  Chlamydotis  of  M.  Lesson  (1839)  is  synonymous)  and  Syplieotides  of  M.  Lesson  (183.9). 
February,  1845. 
