From the Old Records - Great Indian Bustards

(Photograph by Mr K. Koshy and the text material provided by Mr. Devashish Dev)

Nice shot and record of the Indian Bustard which looks like a female to me.

We wish reduced threats and conducive environment helps the bird
regain its former range. Consider the following extract:

"Between the line of the railway and the Ganges canal, from near
Roorkee to, I believe, Ghazeeabad, there runs a broken range of
sandhills. Along this tract, right and left of the range, the land is
high and sandy (bhoor), and here Bustards are to be found. I cannot
positively assert that they extend into the Meerut district, but I
believe such to be the case; and certainly a bird to be occasionally
seen during the rains in the Saharunpore district, east of Deobund.

"In this district (Muzuffernugger) they are to be found all the year
round, and one was caught alive here some years ago for Mr. Craigie
Halket by some bahelias.

"The Bustard I saw yesterday, I flushed within a quarter of a mile of
the Grand Trunk Road, (Merrut to Rookee) on some bhoorland close to a
police outpost.

"In 1871, I was in the Mirzapore district. I was told by residents,
and also I think by Mr. Pollock, cs., that both Bustard and Florican
were to be found some miles from the station, along the great Deccan
road.

"W. Ward Smith, an Assistant Engineer, D.P.W., stationed here tells me
he frequently sees Bustard about Jowlee in the Muzuffernugger
district."

FW Butler
Muzuffernugger, Oct 25th, 1879.
The Game birds of India. (Reprint from the "Asian") Addenda et
Corrigenda No. 1 - Edited by AO Hume. Stray Feathers VIII, p490

Regards
Devashish