OTIS TETRAX, Linn.

Little Bustard.

Otis tetrax, Linn, Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 264.
—— minor, Briss. Orn., tom. v. p. 24, pl. ii. figs. 1 & 2.
Tetrax campestris, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Spec. of Mamm. and Birds preserved in Brit. Mus., p. 28.

 

Unuixe the Great Bustard, which at one time was indigenous to our island, this smaller species has no more

claim to rank as a British bird than any other accidental visitor. It is true that records of its having been
shot in many counties, from Cornwall to the banks of the Tweed, may be found in the various works on
British ornithology, but these occurrences extend over a great number of years—from the time of Pennant
to that of Yarrell. North of the Tweed it has seldom occurred ; and the late Mr. Thompson states that only
two have been seen in Ireland. If this general view of the occurrence of the bird in Britain should not be
sufficiently precise, I must refer my readers to the pages of the ‘ Zoologist,’ the works of Yarrell and others,
where the exact dates and localities will be found. I must admit that I am somewhat surprised that the
majority of the specimens which fly over from the Continent to England should pay their visits in autumn
or winter. Is it because our island is more humid, and less affected by the frost, than France and Germany ?
or are these autumnal visits of an accidental character, when the bird, finding the climate suitable for winter-
quarters, tarries until it is shot, which is usually its fate ?

Having stated that Britain is not the true home of the Little Bustard, and that it was never indigenous
here, I now proceed to mention what parts of the earth’s surface it enlivens. These are the open cham-
paign parts of France and Spain, the sterile districts of Germany and Turkey, and the southern steppes
of Russia, as far east as the Caspian Sea. In all these latter countries it is abundant, particularly in
summer ; and [ have not the least doubt that it is strictly migratory, and that it crosses both the Mediter-
ranean and Black Sea in spring and autumn,—the greater portion of those which summer in France and
Spain proceeding to Morocco and other parts of northern Africa in winter, and those which breed in the
Crimea crossing in like manner to Asia Minor and Persia. |

~ Pennant, in his ‘ Arctic Zoology,’ says that the Little Bustard is frequently met with in the southern and
south-western parts of Russia, where it migrates in small flocks, and that it is also found in the deserts of
Tartary. It is numerous in France, and also occurs in Spain, Provence, Italy, and Sardinia, where Vieillot says
it remains all the year. It is found in North Africa, Turkey, and Greece. Specimens have been sent to the
Zoological Society from Erzeroum by Keith Abbott, Esq., and by Messrs. Dickson and Ross, who state in
their notes that it is very common in the ploughed fields on the skirts of the marshes. Ménétriés observes
that it is numerous at the foot of Mount Caucasus, particularly towards the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Near Baiku, in December, he saw immense flocks passing from east to west: of all those seen or procured
and examined, not a single male had any black on the throat.” (Yarrell, ‘ Hist. of Brit. Birds,’ vol. ii. p- 373.)

Africa is the principal habitat of the Otidine, more species of the family of Bustards existing on that
continent than in any other part of the world; in Africa also the largest known species are found, while
the smallest, the Sypheotis aurita, is a native of India. It is somewhat singular that, so far as Iam aware, no
species of Otis has yet been discovered in Java, Sumatra, or Borneo, while a very fine one solemnly treads
the extensive plains of Australia. The family comprises about twenty species, which, though bearing
avery marked resemblance in structure, have been divided into half as many sections or minor groups, to
which generic appellations have been assigned,—that of Tetrax being given to the present bird. Without
questioning the propriety of this arrangement, I shall figure our own two Bustards under the term of Odis.
Those who have not made ornithology a study will be surprised to learn that it is in spring alone that the male
is adorned with the black and white markings of the neck and the lovely grey hue of the face and cheeks,
that at other seasons he is clothed like the female, and that it is only when thus gaily attired he solicits the
Opposite sex to mate with him. The assumption of this gay plumage is commenced when the sun
returns to our latitudes, and with his genial warmth stimulates alike both animal and vegetable life ; it is
completed by the time the great luminary has reached the zenith, after which the bird again moults and
reassumes his winter livery. In this country the Little Bustard is seldom seen in his full nuptial’ dress :
of the many examples that have been killed here, I do not recollect more than two in this state ; of these
one, formerly in Mr. Bullock’s collection, is now in the British Museum ; the depository of the other has
escaped my memory. The former is said to have been taken in Norfolk, which county, together with the
adjoining ones of Suffolk and Essex, appears to have been more frequently visited by this species than any
other. ‘Several specimens of this rare and accidental visitant,” says H. Stevenson, Esq., ‘‘ have occurred