L I T T L E BUSTARD.
O t is te tra x , Linn.
L ’O u ta rd e canepetiere.
A l t h o u g h the Great Bustard (Otis tarda, Linn.) was at one time common in England, we are by no means
so well assured that such was also the case with respect to the bird before u s ; indeed we should suspect, from
the localities which it affects, that its visits to the British shores have ever been, as at the present day, accidental
and o f rare occurrence. Its habitat appears to be more exclusively confined to the southern portion
o f Europe, especially Spain, Italy and Turkey, as well as the northern coast o f A fr ica ; and although occurring
in the central parts o f France, it is by no means a common bird; nor is it at all found in the northern parts
o f the European Continent. If, however, we are not to consider the Little Bustard as one o f the birds strictly
indigenous to our island, still the circumstance o f its having been often killed in England fully entitles it to
a place in the Fauna o f this country. O f the various British specimens taken, we may refer among others to
one in the possession o f His Grace the Duke o f Northumberland, shot at Warkworth, in the autumn o f 1821;
another in the possession o f Mr. Selby, shot in February 1823; and a third in the collection o f Mr. Yarrell,
which was taken near Harwich.
The specimens above enumerated, as well as all those o f which any report has reached us, have been
either invariably females or immature males, and in no instance an adult male, so conspicuous for the beautiful
and singular markings which ornament the plumage o f his neck and chest. We may here observe, that we
have been unable satisfactorily to ascertain, either from our own observation or the information afforded by
M. Temminck, whether these bold and decided markings constitute its summer plumage, being lost during
winter, as in many species o f the allied genus Charadrius; or i f they are borne throughout the year, so as to
constitute a permanent characteristic. In the specimen (in the author’s collection) from which our figure was
taken, this beautiful state o f plumage is exhibited in a manner which the pencil is hardly adequate to convey.
The habits and manners o f the Otis tetrax are strictly characteristic o f the genus to which it belongs ; and
its general conformation and strength o f limb render it well adapted for the station it occupies among those
birds whose province is more peculiarly the ground, the surface o f which affords them food and a place for
nidification. The present species frequents open and extensive wilds or uncultivated districts, particularly
uncovered arid plains, where, far removed from the habitation o f man, it finds a secluded abode consonant to
its reserved and timid disposition; and in these places, among the short herbage, it constructs an inartificial
nest, and deposits from three to five eggs, o f a uniform glossy olive-green.
In the male, the top o f the head and occiput are light yellow, contrasted with numerous dots and lines of
black and brown ; the throat and cheeks slate-colour deepening, as it proceeds, to black, which continues in a
line for some distance down the front o f the neck, around which runs a necklace o f pure white, commencing
on each side o f the occiput; the back o f the neck (where the feathers are elongated into a short mane), and the
sides, are o f a deep je t black which meets across the lower part o f the neck beneath the white necklace; over
the breast extends a large crescent-shaped collar o f white, below which is a narrower one o f black; the whole
o f the back and sides o f the chest light yellow with shades o f reddish brown, thickly barred and dotted with
elegant zigzag markings o f black (which follow the outline o f each feather,) interspersed, especially about the
upper part, with large black spots and dashes ; the edges o f the greater wing and tail-coverts white; the
quill-feathers blackish brown; tail yellowish with zigzag markings like those o f the back, and crossed by indistinct
bars, with indications o f others; the middle o f the chest and. whole o f the under surface pure white;
bill olive-brown; irides orange ; legs and tarsi yellowish grey.
Length eighteen inches; tarsi three inches; middle toe one inch and a quarter. From the joint o f the tarsus
to the feathery part o f the thigh one inch ; wing lengthened, and somewhat rounded.
The females and young males have the whole o f the upper surface barred as in the male with dark brown
zigzag markings on a fawn-coloured ground; the wing-coverts edged with white; the quill-feathers dark
brown ; the chin white; neck yellow, marked with longitudinal stripes, which as they proceed merge into
transverse bars, becoming more and more decided on the chest, where the ground is still yellow ; the under
parts are pure white.
We have figured a male and female in their full plumage, two thirds o f their natural size.