THE GREAT BUSTARD 
171 
of its numbers, and it passed away, unrecorded from Berkshire, 
Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, the Wolds of Lincolnshire, and 
the Downs of Sussex; while the first ten years of this 19th 
century saw the extinction of the birds indigenous to Salisbury 
Plain. On the eastern Wolds of Yorkshire the survivor of 
former droves was trapped in 1832-33 ; and in Norfolk and 
Suffolk the last fertile eggs were taken about 1838, though a 
few birds lingered to a somewhat later date.” 
The distribution of the bustards is confined to the Old 
World, the bird so-called in parts of the North-American 
Continent is the Canada goose {Bemicla Canadensis). The great 
bustard is at present found in Central and Southern Europe, 
being met with in Hungary, Germany, Poland, and Spain. It 
extends eastwards to Turkestan and North Afghanistan and is 
sometimes found in the north-west of India. 
A few words as to the general appearance of the bird may 
not be out of place. The general colouring on the upper parts 
is sandy-rufous, with broad transverse bands of black, the tail 
being similarly banded, while the tail feathers themselves are 
reddish and tipped with white. The top of the head is light 
grey, as also are the sides of the face, ear-coverts, cheeks and 
throat. On each side of the chin are elongated bristle-like 
feathers. The legs of the bird are relatively short and its wings 
are rounded. 
The male great bustard measures about forty-four inches 
and stands between three and four feet in height ; the female is a 
great deal smaller and is coloured much the same as the male. 
Like other members of the bustard tribe the male bird has 
an air pouch opening under the tongue which extends some 
way down in front of the neck. This air pouch is much de- 
veloped in the breeding season, but at other times of the year is 
barely noticeable. 
The behaviour of the great bustard in the breeding season 
is most remarkable. The following observations I was fortunate 
enough to make in 1897 when a male and two females were 
living in the Zoological Society’s Gardens, Regent’s Park, in one 
of the enclosures near where the new ostrich house now stands. 
The male bird begins his “ showing-off” by standing in front 
of the female and repeatedly takes two steps to the right very 
quickly and then one or two to the left, but moving hardly any 
distance, quivering with excitement the whole time. The wings 
are half opened and drooping to the ground, the primary feathers 
falling loosely out of place. The head is buried in the throat 
and the tail turned up on to the back, the hind part of the body 
being pitched well up and the “ whiskers” displayed. The pouch 
under the throat is enormously distended, the chestnut colouring 
on the crop being conspicuous. The female meantime walks up 
and down and appears not to take much notice of these antics — 
for such they are. Presently the male turns round quickly to 
show off the white of the tail coverts on the other side as an 
