THE RUFEED bustards. 
125 
the Caspian Sea. It has been killed in many parts of Cen- 
tral Europe, but rarely reaches the countries of Northern 
Europe. Its ally, the Arabian Ruffed Bustard {Hoicbara iindii- 
iata), occurs in the countries of the Mediterranean, eastwards to 
Armenia and westwards to the Canaries, the Bustards of Fucr- 
teventura having been lately considered to be a distinct species, 
which has been described as 0. fuertevcntu7-ai by the Hon. 
Walter Rothschild and Mr. E. Hartert. 
H. undulata has a white crest, and the fore-neck and chest 
are white like the rest of the under surface of the body. 
HaWts. — The best account of the habits of the present species 
is that published by Mr. A. O. Hume in the “ Game Birds of 
India,” from which I make the following extracts : — “I have 
never heard this bird utter any sound, either when feeding un- 
disturbed, or when suddenly flushed, or when wounded and 
seized, or about to be seized, by man or dog. Possibly during 
the breeding-season the males have some call. 
“ By preference, the Houbara affects the nearly level, though 
slightly undulating, sandy semi-desert plains, which constitute 
so important a feature in the physical geography of Western 
India. Plains, semi-desert indeed, but yet affording in places 
thin patches, in places a continuous area, of low scrubby cover, 
in which the dwarf Zizyphus (the Ber), the Lana {Anabasis 
multiflora), the Booee {^rna hooit), various Salsolas, stunted 
acacia-bushes, and odorous tufts of lemon-grass are conspicuous. 
“Here the Houbara trots about early and late, squatting 
under the shade of some bush, during the sunniest hours of 
the day, feeding very largely on the small fruit of the Bcr, or 
the berries of tlie Grewia, or the young shoots of the lemon- 
grass, and other herbs ; now picking up an ant or two, now a 
grasshopper or beetle, and now a tiny land-shell or stone, but 
living chiefly as a vegetarian, and never with us, to judge from 
the hundreds I have examined, feeding on lizards, snakes, and 
the like, as the Great Bustard certainly does, and the African 
Houbara is said to do. 
“ The Houbara greatly prefers running to flying, and when 
the weather is not too hot, will make its w'ay through the laby- 
rinth of little bushes which constitute its home at areally sur- 
prising pace. So long as the cover is low, its neck and body 
are held as low as possible, but as soon as it gets where it 
