three feet ten inches ; and from tip to tip of the wings nearly 
nine feet ; and it weighs from twenty to thirty pounds. Bill 
strong and convex • irides varying from light hazel to dull 
red ; legs strong, and covered with small scales ; tail com- 
posed of twenty feathers. The female is but little more 
than half the size of the male, the colours are all paler, and ^ 
it wants the tufts of feathers growing from each side the 
lower mandible, so conspicuous in the male bird. The 
down next the body on this and our other native species of 
Bustard^ is of a beautiful light rose colour with white 
points, so that unless the feathers are disturbed it appears 
of an uniform white colour ; the down is extremely thick 
and close. 
This noble bird, which is the most bulky of all our land 
birdsj is furnished with a pouch of considerable capacity, in 
which it is supposed to convey water to the female and 
young ; in the specimen our figure was coloured from, the 
pouch was found capable of containing rather more than two 
quarts of water ; its size is variously described, some authors 
stating it to be sufficiently large to contain seven quarts ; 
others as many pints ; this appendage in all probability 
varies with the size of the bird ; ours only weighed twenty- 
two pounds and a half ; others are described as weighing 
thirty pounds. The entrance to this pouch is immediately 
under the tongue. 
The enclosing and cultivating those extensive downs and 
heaths in various parts of Great Britain, on which formerly 
this noble species was seen in large flocks, threatens, within 
a few years, to extirpate the Bustard from this country; 
