The GREAT BUSTARD (_Otis tarda_), as it has been called, is distinguishable from all other species of the family by the beard-like tuft of feathers that adorns the chin of the male bird. The head, upper breast, and upper part of the wing, are light grey; the feathers on the back reddish yellow, striped with black; those of the nape rust-red, tipped with white, and decorated with a black stripe, the exterior being almost entirely white. The primary quills are dark greyish brown, with blackish brown tip and outer web, and yellowish white shaft; the secondaries are black with white roots, those at the exterior being nearly pure white. The beard consists of about thirty long, slender, and ragged greyish white feathers. The eye is deep brown, the beak blackish, and the foot grey. This fine and stately bird is from three feet and a quarter to three feet and a half long, and from seven feet and a half to eight feet broad; the wing measures two feet and a quarter, and the tail eleven inches. The female is much smaller than her mate, less striking in colour and without a beard; her length is at most two feet and three-quarters, and the expanse of the wings six feet. These birds occupy the wild open parts of Europe and Asia, only occasionally visiting North-western Africa during the winter months. In Great Britain they were formerly abundant, but are now quite extinct; in France and Germany they are occasionally met with, and are more or less numerous throughout Southern Europe. Mr. Nicholson, who had an opportunity of studying the habits of the Bustard in the neighbourhood of Seville, where it is still common, tells us that the stomachs of those he killed were literally crammed with stalks and ears of barley, and with the leaves of a large green weed, and a kind of black beetle. Such as he observed generally flew, when flushed, two miles or more at an elevation of at least a hundred yards. The same gentleman states that they never attempted to escape by running, and that if winged, they showed a disposition to remain and fight rather than to have recourse to their legs. An individual, kept by Mr. Bartley, lived principally upon birds, chiefly Sparrows, which it swallowed whole, feathers and all, with the greatest avidity; it also ate the flowers of charlock and the leaves of rape, as well as mice, and, indeed, any animal substance it casually met with. In disposition these Bustards are so shy and wild that, according to Schomburghk, they can never be approached except whilst eating. On the Continent they are often shot with a rifle. The flesh of the young is much esteemed, and is often exposed for sale in European markets. Like other members of the family, this species is not stationary in one place, but when it does not actually migrate, flies, at certain seasons of the year, to a considerable distance from its native haunts. When about to mount on the wing, it takes two or three springy steps, and then rises with slowly