THE LESSER BUSTARDS. 
12 I 
Adnlt Female. — Without the varied markings of tlie male, but 
scarcely differing in size. Rather lighter and more coarsely 
mottled with black than the male ; the hind-neck and mantle, 
as well as parts of the scapulars and back, spangled with ovate 
drops of sandy-buff, most of these drops having a twin-spot of 
black in the centre ; sides of face sandy-rufous, streaked with 
black ; throat white ; lower throat, fore-neck, and upper breast 
sandy-buff, the former streaked with black, and the fore-neck 
and chest with circular bars and spots of black ; remainder of 
under surface pure white, as also the under wing-coverts ; the 
lower primary-coverts with cross bars of black ; Avings as in the 
male, but the exterior coverts and the greater scries barred 
with black. Total length, 17 inches; culraen, i i ; wing, 97 ; 
tail, 4 0 ; tarsus, 2 ’4. 
Tonng Birds. — These can generally be distinguished from the 
adult female by the greater amount of barring on the chest, by 
the more profuse barring of the white upper tail-coverts, and 
by the sandy frecklings of the primary-coverts ; iris brownish- 
yellow. 
Range in Great Britain. — Although a few instances of the oc- 
currence of the Little Bustard in full breeding- dress have been 
recorded from our islands, the greater number of specimens 
have been captured in autumn and winter, chiefly in the 
southern and eastern counties. Four have been recorded 
from Scotland and two from Ireland. 
Range ontside the British Islands. — The Little Bustard is a mi- 
gratory bird in most parts of Europe, and breeds only in the 
open country suited to its habits. Thus it is plentiful in 
certain parts of France, Spain, and Russia, but it does not go 
very far north, though known as a straggler to Scandinavia, the 
Baltic Provinces, and the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg. 
Eastward it ranges to Turkestan, whence it visits North-western 
India in the cold season, at which time it is also found in 
North-eastern Africa. 
Hahits. — As a rule, the present species is a very shy bird 
and one difficult to procure, though it is often seen in flocks of 
a hundred or more at certain seasons. Colonel Irby writes : — 
“ I found the Little Bustard equally common in Marocco and 
Andalucia on all open, low, cultivated ground. On the dead 
