37 2 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
the summer season the color is a rusty brown, but towards fall the feathers 
become lighter, fading gradually from brown to gray, and then to a pure white 
as the severe weather approaches. It dwells among the snow-clad hills, being 
found as far north as Greenland, and rarely more southerly than British 
America. In its habits the ptarmigan does not differ from the pinnated grouse, 
which it equals in size. 
The Great Bustard 
(Otis tarda ) was formerly 
quite plentiful in both 
Great Britain and Europe, 
but so few are now to be 
seen that it will soon be 
placed in the list of ex¬ 
tinct birds. It is about 
equal to the turkey in 
size, but has many char¬ 
acteristics of the ostrich. 
Although the wings are 
fairly well developed, it 
rarely exercises them ex¬ 
cept as aids to its rapid 
progress over ground, for it 
is one of the swiftest run¬ 
ners, able to contest with fleetest horse or dog. Its nest is only a shallow basin 
scooped out of the ground usually in grain fields, in which two or three eggs 
are laid of an olive-brown, splashed with rufous and having a green tinge. 
The Little Bustard (Otis tetrax ) is still found in considerable numbers all 
.over Europe, being particularly plentiful about the Caspian shores, where it 
ranges in large flocks. It is about the size of a quail and is quite a handsome 
bird, the flesh of which is held in 
high esteem. 
The Wild Turkey (Meleagris 
gallopavo ) is beyond compare the 
most majestic of all game birds, 
for which reason he is cruelly 
persecuted, so that the number is 
rapidly diminishing, though in 
Missouri and Arkansas it is by no 
means scarce as yet. It is spread 
over the whole of America except 
the extreme north and south, its 
favorite habitat being Indiana, Illi¬ 
nois, Missouri, Arkansas, Indian 
Territory and Texas. It begins 
to mate in February, and then the male puts on his vaunting airs of arro¬ 
gant pride, gobbling in distracting voice, trailing his wings with a thudt that 
seems to penetrate both earth and air. 
The female makes her nest in some secluded place, and is very guarded in 
her approaches, seldom travelling the same path twice in succession, and if 
black grous£ (Tetrao tetrix). 
