THE BUSTARD, (Otis tarda,)
Is a large and fine bird which was formerly common in some parts of England, but has now become so rare here that the capture of a specimen is looked upon as something remarkable. It is still abundant in some parts of the continent of Europe. The male Bustard measures nearly four feet in length, and has the head and neck greyish, the back buff or pale chestnut, with a great many black bars, and all the lower part of the body white. From each side of the chin there springs a tuft of slender feathers about seven inches in length, standing out like a pair of stiff moustaches. The female is a good deal smaller than the male, or about three feet in length; she is also distinguished from her partner by the want of the tufts on the chin, although in some cases these exist in the female, but shorter than in the male.
The Bustard feeds on green vegetables and insects, and are also said to kill and eat small quadrupeds and reptiles. They are polygamous, and when the female has laid her two or three eggs in a slight depression of the ground, and commenced the business of incubation, the male most ungallantly deserts her, and retires to take his ease in some neighbouring marsh. It was formerly supposed that the male Bustard paid so much attention to his mates as to provide them with water, which he was said to bring to them in a large pouch, capable of holding nearly a gallon, situated under his throat. It is true that the female is without this appendage; but modern naturalists all agree in stating that the male bird is never seen in company with the female after she has begun to sit. The use of this pouch is therefore still a subject of controversy.
The female lays her eggs among clover, or more frequently in corn-fields, the nest being merely a hollow scraped in the ground. The eggs are two, or sometimes three, in number, and their colour is a yellowish-brown, inclining to green.
A peculiarity of the Bustard, noticed by most naturalists, is the extreme rapidity with which they can run. They skim along the ground, raising the wings over the back in the same manner as the ostrich. It is said that in former times, when the breed was commoner, it was a practice to hunt the young birds, before they had acquired the power of flying, with greyhounds.
As an article of food the flesh of the Bustard has always been held in great estimation.
There are several other species peculiar both to Asia and Africa.