0. nigriceps is a native of Asia. The specimen from which the figure in Mr. Gould's magnificent work (` Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains ') was taken was brought from the highlands of the Himalaya, but it is by no means confined to that locality. Colonel Sykes observed it in the wide and open country of the Mahrattas, where it lives in large flocks, and where it is considered one of the greatest delicacies as an article of food. It is indeed so abundant in the Deccan, that Colonel Sykes records, in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' that one gentleman shot nearly a thousand.
The male has the body above pale bay, lightly undulated with rufous-brown; neck, a few spots on the wings, and belly, white ; the head, which is crested, the outer wing-coverts, the quills, and the large mark on the breast, black ; irides deep-brown ; bill and feet yellowish. Length, inclusive of tail, 56i inches ; tail, inches.
brown. Quills black. Feet yellowish-green. Bill browu, yellow at the base. Length 20 inches ; height, when erect, 17 inches 6 lines.
Le Valliant discovered this species in the interior of South Africa, inhabiting the Kaffir country and some parts of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Temminek, from whom the description and figure are taken, says that he is ignorant whether the female differs in plumage from the male, of which latter sex were the two indi viduals he bad seen. There are specimens in the museums of Paris and of the Netherlands.
- _ The female resembles the male in plumage, but is only 41i inches including the tail, which is 10i inches.
The eggs, of which Colonel Sykes found only one in a hole in the earth on the open plain and that considerably advanced in the process of incubation, were in shape a perfect oval, and in colour a brown-olive, with obscure blotches of darker brown-olive. Length inches, diameter inches.
0. cierutucem is an inhabitant of Africa. The summit of the head is marked with black and reddish zigzags, straight and nearly approxi mated. Above the eyes extends a large whitish band, punctured as it were with brown ; plumes near the ear-opening of a clear ruddy colour. Under the neck a demi-circular band of pure white; and below another twice as large, of deep black. Front of the neck, breast, and all the other lower parts of a lead-colour. All the upper parks of the body of a reddish or yellowish brown, marked with black zigzags and dots very nearly together. Lower coverts of the wings and tail-feathers unspotted, ruddy. End of the tail black, tinged with 0. Denhanti, the African Bustard met with by Major Denham near the larger towns, did not occur in any great abundance. It frequented moist places where the herbage was pure and fresh, and where it was taken in snares by the natives for food. It was almost invariably
seen singly, Major Denham never having observed a pair together more than once. It was always found in company with gazelles : whenever a bustard was observed it was certain that the gazelles were not far distant. Major Denham praises its large and brilliant eye. The Arabs are accustomed to compare the eyes of their most beautiful women to those of the Oubara, which seems to be a general name for the bustards in Africa. Ginelin has given the title as a specific dis tinction to an African bustard smaller than Major Denham's, which is 3 feet 9 inches in length. But this is small in comparison with the Kori Bustard (Otis Kori) discovered by 31r. Burchell in South Africa, for that stood upwards of 5 feet high, and may be considered the most gigantic development of the form hitherto observed.
Burchell, in his Travels in the interior of Southern Africa, gives the following account of his becoming possessed of this noble Bustard on the banks of the Orange River :—" We shot a large bird of the bustard kind, which was called Wilde Paauw (Wild Peacock). This name is here very wrongly applied, as the bird to which it properly belongs differs from this in every respect.
There are indeed three, orperhaps four, birds to which in different districts this appellation is given.
The present species,whieh is called Kori in the Sichuana language, measured in extent of wing not less than 7 feet, and iu bulk and weight was almost greater than some of the people could manage.
The under part of the body was white, but the upper part was covered with fine lines of black on a light chestnut-coloured ground. The tail and quill-feathers partook of the general colouring of the back ; the shoulders were marked with large blotches of black and white, and the top of the head was black ; the feathers of the oeciput were elongated into a crest ; those of the neck were also elongated, loose, narrow, and pointed, and were of a whitish colour marked with numerous transverse lines of black. The irides were of a beautiful, pellucid, changeable, silvery, ferruginous colour. A representation of the head of the Dori Bustard is given at the end of the chapter. Its body was so thickly protected by feathers that our largest sized shot made no impression, and taught by experience the hunters never fire at it but with • bullet. It is reckoned the best of the winged game in the country, not only on account of its size but because it is always found to abound in fat. The moat of it is not unlike that of a turkey, but Is certainly superior as poaseasing the flavour of game."