from time to time in Norfolk, three having been shot within the last eight or nine years: the first of these,
a male in my own collection, was killed, during very severe weather, on the 29th o f December 1853, in a
turnip-field on the road leading from Winterton to Yarmouth; it was in high condition, and had its stomach
literally crammed with vegetable matter, apparently fragments of some large leaf with a rough surface and
serrated edge. Several more specimens were killed about the same time in other counties, and were
recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1854. On the 4th o f March 1858, a fine adult female was shot in the
South Town Marshes at Gorlestone, near Yarmouth; it is now in the possession o f J . H. Gurney, Esq.
This bird was also in good condition, the stomach being filled with various kinds o f green food. The wind,
at the time this bird was killed, and for some days previously, was N.E., the weather intensely cold, with snow
on the ground—in fact, exactly such weather as a t the time the male above-mentioned was obtained. In the
case o f such an accidental visitant to our coast, it may not be uninteresting to enumerate as far as possible
the herbs and grasses, portions o f which formed the contents o f the stomach o f the specimen. By far the
larger part consisted of a long fine grass, with a brackish odour, apparently from the marshes, mixed and
matted with which was a species o f Conferva from’ the ditches, two flowers of the common daisy (Beilis
perennis'), and a narrow scolloped leaf resembling cat’s ear (Hypocheeris glabra), fragments o f a thistle, and
of the water-ranunculus (Ranunculus aquatilis). These were all that could be identified. The third and
last Norfolk example was procured at Bio Norton, near Thetford, on the 29th o f November 1860. It
proved to be a female, and was killed in a turnip-field, which seems to be the favourite resort o f the bird
when visiting this country; for Mr. Lubbock remarks that, in the three instances o f its occurrence that
had come under his observation, it was found in fields o f this kind o f vegetable. This specimen appeared
during somewhat mild weather, which preceded only by a week o r two the intensely severe frosts o f the
following two months, during which two others occurred in the adjoining counties o f Suffolk and E ssex ;
it is evident, therefore, that the Little Bustard is merely a winter visitant to our coasts, its appearance
depending in a great measure upon the degree o f severity in the weather.” In France, where the bird is
common, it arrives in April, and departs in September. I t is said to be polygamous, the male assuming a
station, and attracting the females by his cries.
Captain Blakiston, B.A., informs me that, during his sojourn in the Crimea, “ the Little Bustard was
occasionally shot in the Chersonese during the winter and in the spring, until near the end o f April; and
he saw several on the plains between Sebastopol and the Alma at the end o f May, but only two th at were
in company.”
Mr. Yarrell states that “ the nest is on the ground, among herbage which is sufficiently high to hide the
bird. The eggs, which are laid in June, vary in number, according to different authors, from three to five;
the length two inches, the breadth one inch six lines; the colour o f one in my own collection uniform olive-
brown ; but I have seen them slightly clouded with patches of darker brown.” “ Those eggs which I have
seen,” says Mr. Hewitson, “ are all more o r less suffused with colour. Any one who had previously seen the
eggs o f the Great Bustard would look for a similar character in those o f the present species; and he would
be pleased in observing the resemblance which they bear to each other, distinct as they are from those of
all other birds.” M. Bailly, in his ‘ Ornithologie de la Savoie,’ states that the eggs are three o r four in number.
The young follow the mother like^those of a domestic fowl, and on the appearance o f danger conceal themselves
by squatting among the herbage: they are unable to fly until about the middle o f August.
The Little Bustard is occasionally sent to this country as an article o f food; and those o f my readers who
deal with the London poulterers—Bailey, o f Mount Street, or Fisher, of Duke Street— may have a chance of
ascertaining for themselves the quality o f its flesh, which, in my opinion, is preferable to that of the larger
species. Mr. Yarrell says it has the appearance and flavour o f th at o f a young hen Pheasant; others say it
is dark-coloured, but of an exquisite flavour.
That the Otis tetrax bears confinement tolerably well is evidenced by the circumstance o f examples having
lived for many months at a time in the menagerie o f the Zoological Society, and become as familiar with
the visitors as any o f the other denizens of the aviaries, amongwhichatthis moment (April 1864) are several
fine examples o f their larger brethren.
The flight o f the Little Bustard is very rapid, and it runs with equal celerity over the sterile wastes, upon
which it is frequently found, and upon which it squats close to avoid detection on the appearance o f danger.
The Plate represents a male and a female, in snm m e i^ th e former o f the natural size, the latter somewhat
reduced—with a small figure o f a male in the distance.