T a b b . L X X I I I , L X X IV , e t L X X V .
OTIS HIMALAYANUS .
Ot. n ig e r ; alis a lb is ; dorso medio scapularibusque p a llid o -r iifo b rmmeoque va r ieg a tis ; dorso imo
p a llid o - r u fo u n d u la tim sp a rso ; cristce collique p h im is a n te r io r ib u s e t p o s te r io r ib u s con fe rtis.
L o n g itu d o corporis, 21 u n c .; ro s tr i, 2 ; cdce, 1 3 ; ta r s i, 5f.
O f a ll the Bustards, the Otis Himalayanus is perhaps the most interesting, on account of the differences in
plumage between the adult males and females, and the young, all of which might pass for separate and distinct
species. Nor is this difference in plumage limited merely to the sexes or young, for we have every reason to
believe that the adult males, wliich are distinguished during summer by long flowing feathers from the occiput
and chest, lose these graceful ornaments when the seiison for breeding has passed. The Plates exhibiting tlie
adult male and female, and the young male, fully illustrate the differences alluded to. Though far from common,
this remarkable species seems spread as well over the plains as the hilly distric ts; specimens of tlie young
having been received from tbe neighbourhood o f Calcutta, while the sjiecimen from which the fi«-ure in
Tab. LXXIII. was taken, and which is now deposited in the rich Museum o f the Zoological Society, was
received from the Himalayan mountains. This last is the only example o f the adult male in full plumage
which we have ever seen. Like the rest of the more typical of their race, they frequent the wild and open
country, and are equally valued for the table with the Otis nigriceps. O f the nidifieation and eggs nothing
has been ascertained.
The adult male has the occiput and sides of the chest ornamented with long plumes ; the colour of the
liead, neck, and under p arts is o f a uniform deep black ; back and wing-coverts are pale rufous variegated and
blotciied with b rown; the M'ings are w h ite ; the quills dark browu; the tail black tipped with wh ite ; the
beak is dark brown ; the tarsi brown.
In the young male, the back o f the head is only slightly crested, and the chest wants the flowing feathers ;
the under jiart alone is black, the head and neck being light rufous with zigzag marks o f hrown ; the tail is
black tijiped with white.
The adult female resembles the young male in plumage, except that the black of the under surface is exchanged
for a jiule fawn c o lo u r; her general colour is in fact light rufous beautifully variegated with brown
markings, which are large and conspicuous on the \vings, but small and indistinct on the neck and chest, and
lost on the abdomen.
The figures rejiresent the respective birds in the jirojiortion of three fourths of their natural size.