5980 



Birds. 



Breeding of the Bustard (Otis tarda) near Leipzic. 

 By Henry Smurthwaite, Esq. 



I HAD hoped, during the course of last summer, to obtain^many 

 particulars concerning the habits of the great bustard during the 

 breeding season, — a want which, from various reasons, has up to this 

 time remained quite unsupplied : residing as I do in the very heart of 

 the locality chosen by these interesting birds as their nursery, I ima- 

 gined that I should have had an opportunity of studying their nidifi- 

 cation, which has not often been afforded to a naturalist; various 

 circumstances, however, prevented me from investigating in person, 

 and for the somewhat meagre particulars which I send I am indebted 

 to the kindness of a friend, who, during the breeding season of ]857, 

 himself several times discovered the nest, or rather the eggs, of Otis 

 tarda. 



" Der Trappe," as our German friends call it, seems to have fixed 

 upon the immense level plains between Leipzic and Halle as their 

 favourite resort : they are found, however, in the greatest numbers in 

 the neighbourhood of the latter town. The females, who appear to 

 arrive on the breeding ground considerably later than the males, are 

 deserted by the latter soon after the act of impregnation has taken 

 place ; for the great bustard brings with him into Europe the custom 

 of the land he most loves, and indulges in a plurality of wives. The 

 eggs are usually laid about the end of May or beginning of June, but, 

 as the following list shows, there is every reason to suppose that two 

 broods are sometimes hatched in the year, or that in some seasons 

 nidification takes place much earlier and later than in others. 



I had employed various persons to procure eggs for me, having 

 made the necessary arrangements so early as February, 1857, and re- 

 ceived specimens as follows, the date, be it understood, indicating in 

 every instance, the day on which the eggs were taken. 



April 28. Two specimens, freshly laid. 



May 20. Two specimens, freshly laid. 



May 29. Three specimens from two nests, the single egg being ad- 

 dled, the others quite fresh. 



June 3. One specimen. The nest from which it was taken contained 

 three eggs, all fresh. 



June 23. One specimen, quite fresh. This egg was taken within 

 two miles of Leipzic. 



