BUSTARD (variant of bistard, OF. bistarde, oustardr, from Lat. axis tarda ; axis, bird, tarda. slow). One of the large game-birds of the Old World family Otididte, which partakes of the characteristics of both the cranes and the plovers. They inhabit open country, being par tial to the steppes of Russia and Southwestern Asia. and to the plains of Africa ; and are both swift runners and powerful on the wing, although the species vary in their liking for flight. The great bustard (Otis tarda), extinct in Great Britain, but found in open regions "from Spain to Mesopotamia," is a large bird, weighing from 25 to 30 pounds ordinarily, gay in color, with wings strongly marked with black and white, and the back, shoulders, and breast (of the male) ornamented with russet. bay, and black. It feeds mainly on leaves, buds, fruits, etc., hut seems to take insects, worms, or anything edible it meets. Its flesh is tender, and it is regarded as a first-class game-bird. The little bustard (Otis tetra") is a smaller and more handsome species, inhabiting both shores of the Mediterran ean. The houbaras (Otis houbara and Otis .1lacquecni) range from Morocco to India, and form the favorite game-birds of the Asiatic plains, where they are much hunted on camel back. the sportsinan so inounted being able to
get near a flock that would take early alarm at his approach on foot. The Anglo-Indian name, 'florican,' is applied to several smaller Indian species, and those of the South African plains arc called knoorhaans by the Dutch and English col onists. Australia possesses a species, but none occur in the New World, so that the distribution, as well as the ornithological affinities of these birds, is very puzzling. A structural point of interest is the presence in several species of a highly distensible gulag pouch, with an opening under the tongue, concerning which much specu lation has been indulged in. Stejnegcr is no doubt right in declaring that it is simply a secondary sexual character, for display in courtship, com parable to that of the pectoral sandpiper. Attempts to domesticate these birds have failed, although individuals may easily he tamed, from their inability to breed in confinement. Cer tain other birds are erroneously called bustards; as the Magellanic goose of Argentina. Consult Chapman and Buck, Wild Africa (London. 1593). See Plate of BUSTARDS.