520 
THE STORY OF THE BIRDS. 
having disappeared at an earlier epoch from Scotland, the bustard was prob¬ 
ably exterminated as a resident English species in or about the year 1838-; 
and it is now known only as a rare and casual visitor to 1 the southern counties. 
Haunting the great steppes and plains—whether barren or under corn culti¬ 
vation—of Europe and Asia, the bustard is a shy and wary bird, associating 
during the winter in large flocks, but breaking up into pairs in the breeding- 
season, although even then several such pairs may frequent the same neigh¬ 
borhood, and the immature individuals still remain in companies. Its food 
consists mainly of grain and the young shoots of cereals and other plants, 
but it will also consume insects, as well as small reptiles and mammals. 
Drinking appears to be quite unnecessary to these birds and their kin. 
Generally silent, the female when alarmed gives vent to a kind of hiss, as 
does her partner; but the male has also a call-note which has been compared 
to the syllable “prunt.” The breeding-season commences in May, towards 
the latter part of which the two, or occasionally three eggs are laid in a hol¬ 
low in the ground, which may be situated in the open plain, or in a corn¬ 
field, and may or may not have a scanty lining of dry grass. In color, the 
eggs vary from pale buff to some shade of greenish or brownish olive, 
speckled with reddish brown or gray. During the breeding season the males, 
which sometimes desert their consorts, are apt to be very pugnacious, in¬ 
stances having been known where they have actually attacked human beings. 
Bustards when flushed generally fly two miles or more, sometimes at least a 
hundred yards high. They never try to run. 
Horned Screamer—Screamers are birds of the size of a swan, but of 
totally different appearance, having a hen-like beak, a waxy growth at the 
base of the neck, large crop and a pair of powerful spurs on the front of 
each wing. The horned screamer of Guiana and Amazonia is easily recog¬ 
nized by the presence of a slender horn-like growth 5 or 6 inches in length, 
rising from the middle of the head, and curving upwards and forwards.' Of 
the two spurs on the wing, the foremost is by far the longer and more 
powerful. In color, the soft feathers on the top of the head are whitish 
gray, with blackish tips; those of the cheeks, throat, upper neck, wings, and 
tail are dark brown; the wing-coverts having a greenish metallic sheen, while 
the feathers of the lower neck and upper breast are silver-gray, broadly 
banded with black, and those of the abdomen pure white. Screamers are 
found only in and around lagoons. 
Cassowary—The cassowary shown in the illustration is confined to the 
Island of Ceram, and was the first species of this extraordinary bird made 
