298 
VERTEBRATA. 
MACQTTEEX'S BUSTARD. 
THK LITTLE EUROPEAN BUSTARD. 
inhabits tbe dry sandy plains 
of Afghanistan, where it is 
sometimes seen in flocks of five 
or six. It flies heavily and for 
short distances, soon alighting 
and running. Its flesh is ex- 
ceedingly tender, and so cover- 
ed with fat, that the skins are 
dried and preserved with great 
difficulty. It appears to stray 
widely from its home, as t^yo 
specimens have been killed in 
England, and one or more in 
Denmark. In the crop of one 
of them were found caterpil- 
lars, snails, and beetles. Tliis 
bird has a crest, and on the sides 
of the lower part of the neck, 
a series of long phamcs ; upper 
surface sandy-buff ; beneath 
light gray. 
The Black-billed Bust- 
ard, 0, nigricejjs, is four and a 
half feet long ; pale gray above 
and white beneath. It is foun d 
in various parts of India, and 
is very abundant in the Deccan 
— one Englishman having shot 
nearly a thousand there. It 
lives in large flocks, and is 
esteemed one of the gi'eatest 
delicacies of the table. 
The Blue Bustakd, 0. cob- 
rulescens, is a small African 
species, twenty inches long. 
DENnAM\s Bustard, 0. Den- 
kami, is another African spe- 
cies, three feet nine inches long ; 
found in Central Africa, and 
"^^Mv habitually associating with the 
gazelles. Burchell's Bust- 
ard, 0. Kori, called the Wilde 
^^fi. Paauw by the colonists, is 
found on the Orange River ; 
stands five feet high. The flesh 
resembles that of the turkey. 
The Trotting Bustard, 0, 
Jwuhara^ is a native of North 
Africa and Arabia. 
The Little European 
Bustard, 0. tetrax^ is seven- 
teen inches long ; pale chest- 
nut, streaked with black above ;: 
