862 Zoological Society : — 6. Thamnophilus c^sius. Lanius ccesiuSy Cuv. in Mus. Paris. <? Nigro-plumheus ; pileo cristate gulaque nigris ; tectricibus alaribus anguste alba limbatis ; cauda nigricante unicolore ; rostra pedibusque nigris. ? Grisescenti-brunnea, crista nigricante; capitis lateribus, tec-tricum alarum marginibus et corpore subtus rufis ; rostro nigro, mandibula inferiore basi et pedibus pallidis. Long, tota 5*5, alse 3*25, caudse 2*25. Hab. in Guiana Britannica. Mus. Parisiensi et P.L.S. March 13. — Dr. Gray, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. Notes on the Habits of some Indian Birds. Part VIII. By Lieut. Burgess. Family Struthionid^. Genus Otis. Otis nigriceps (Vigors). Black-headed Bustard. This fine Bustard is found in flocks, varying in size, in the open plains of the Deccan, preferring the dry grassy and stony grounds to others. It grows to a large size ; one fine male which I measured was 7 feet across the wings, and 46 inches from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail. This Bustard may almost be said to breed all the year round. I have had an egg brought to me in February, another on the 4th May, containing a young bird. A gentleman on the Revenue Survey told me that he had seen a young Bustard, covered with down, in the early part of October. I have had a young bird brought to me late in November, as well as eggs in November and December. The female generally lays but one egg. A. F. Davidson, Esq., Superintendent of the Ahmednuggur Revenue Survey, told me a curious habit of the male Bustard. He says, "About breed-ing time the male is fond of mounting some elevated spot, and then strutting about with the tail erected and spread, the wings drooping, and the pouch in the throat inflated with air, and looking like a large bladder ; under the hillock where the male was thus displaying himself were several young ones." In corroboration of this, a boy told me on the 17th May 1850, that about four days previously he had seen a Bustard, with a white-looking bag hanging below the neck. I see in Dr. Jerdon's Catalogue, that he gives an extract from Mr. Elliot's notes to this eff'ect ; speaking of the cock Bustard, he says ; " He was strutting about on some high ground, expanding his tail, ruffling his wings, and distending his neck and throat, making the feathers stand out like a rufi^." I do not find it recorded that the large Bustard of Europe (O. tarda) has this habit of showing him-self ofl^ during the breeding season. The egg of the Black-headed Bustard varies in size ; the one sent with this paper measures 3 j^ths in. in length, by 2^ths in. in width. It also varies in colour ; the
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