Burt, s. A flat fish of the turbot kind.
Bush, s. A thick shrub.
Bushel, s. A measure containing eight gallons; a strike.
Bushy, a. Thick; full of small branches; full of bushes.
Buss, s. A vessel for fishing—a herring boat.
Bustard, (Otis Tarda, Linn.; L’Outarde, Buff.)
Great Bustard.—This very singular bird, which is the largest of our land birds, is about four feet long, and weighs from twenty-five to thirty pounds; its characters are peculiar, and with such as connect it with birds of the gallinaceous kind, it has others which seem to belong to the ostrich and the cassowary. Its bill is strong, and rather convex: its eyes red; on each side of the lower bill there is a tuft of feathers about nine inches long; its head and neck are ash-coloured. In the one described by Edwards there are on each side of the neck two naked spots, of a violet colour, but which appeared to be covered with feathers when the neck was much extended. The back is barred transversely with black and bright rust-colour on a pale reddish ground; the quills are black, the belly white; the tail consists of twenty feathers; the middle ones are rust-colour, barred with black; those on each side are white, with a bar or two of black near the ends; the legs are long, naked above the knees, and dusky; it has no hind toe, its nails are short, strong, and convex both above and below; the bottom of the foot is furnished with a callous prominence, which serves instead a heel. The female is not much more than half the size of the male: the top of her head is of a deep orange, the rest of the head brown; her colours are not so bright as those of the male, and she has no tuft on each side of the head. There is likewise another very essential difference between the male and the female: the former is furnished with a sack or pouch, situated in the forepart of the neck, and capable of containing about two quarts; the entrance to it is immediately under the tongue. This singular reservoir was first discovered by Dr. Douglas, who supposes that the bird fills it with water as a supply in the midst of those dreary plains where it is accustomed to wander. It likewise makes a farther use of it in defending itself against the attacks of birds of prey. On such occasions, it throws out the water with such violence, as not unfrequently to baffle the pursuit of its enemy.
Bustards were formerly more common in this island than at present; they are now found only in the open counties of the south and east, in the plains of Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and in some parts of Yorkshire; they were formerly met with in Scotland, but are now supposed to be extinct there. They are slow in taking wing, but run with great rapidity, and when young are sometimes taken with grey-hounds, which pursue them with great avidity: their chase is said to afford excellent diversion. The great bustard is granivorous, but feeds chiefly on herbs of various kinds, it is also fond of those worms which are seen to come out of the ground in great numbers before sun-rise in the summer; in winter, it frequently feeds on the bark of trees; like the ostrich, it swallows small stones, bits of metal, and the like. The female builds no nest, but making a hole in the ground drops two eggs, about the size of those of a goose, of a pale olive brown, with dark spots. She sometimes leaves her eggs in quest of food; and if during her absence, any one should handle, or even breathe upon them, she immediately abandons them.
Bustards are found in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa; but have not hitherto been discovered on the new continent.