38 
OTINiE. OTIS. 
testine of moderate length and width, coeca long. Nostrils 
oblong or linear, direct, slightly operculate, nearly basal. 
Eyes rather large. Aperture of ear large. Legs long, 
rather slender ; tibia bare to a considerable extent ; tar- 
sus long, reticulated ; toes short, the first generally want- 
ing, scutellate above, marginate, flattened beneath, with 
short basal webs ; claws short, arched, convex, obtuse. 
Plumage moderate, compact ; wings large, pointed ; tail 
short, of twelve or more feathers. 
The Otinse have been referred by some in part to the 
Gallinaceous order, and in part to the family of Plovers, 
to both of which they have evident relations. Their 
flight is strong and sustained, in the larger species sel- 
dom employed on ordinary occasions, but in some of the 
smaller, habitually used. They all run with very great 
speed, and most of them feed on vegetable substances, 
worms, and insects. The young, covered with down, run 
from the first. The males are larger than the females. 
Four species of this family occur in Britain, all of them 
very rare, although one was formerly numerous. 
GENUS LXXXV. OTIS. BUSTARD. 
Bill shorter than the head, moderately stout, nearly 
straight, depressed at the base, compressed toward the end ; 
upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for half its 
length, then decimate and convex, the ridge narrow to be- 
yond the nostrils, the nasal sinus large and feathered at the 
base, the edges inflected for half their length, then direct, 
the tip narrowed but blunt ; lower mandible with the angle 
long and narrow, the dorsal line slightly ascending and nearly 
straight, the edges sharp and direct, the tip narrow but blunt ; 
the gape-line little arched. Mouth rather narrow ; upper 
mandible internally with three prominent lines, lower more 
deeply concave ; oesophagus rather narrow ; proventriculus 
bulbiform ; stomach oblong or roundish, very muscular, with 
radiated tendons, large lateral muscles, and dense rugous 
epithelium ; intestine of moderate length and width ; coeca 
