GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD

The great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a heavy ground bird found locally throughout India as far south of Mysore, but not in Bengal and Assam; inhabiting open, semi-desert plains and broken grassland with scattered bushes. It can run very swiftly, and although it takes off from the ground rather heavily, it can also fly very well, for long distances, when once it takes off. It feeds mainly on locusts, grasshoppers and beetles, but it also eats grain and tender shoots of various crops and sometimes also lizards and small snakes. It utters a short, barking sound when alarmed. This species is now nearly extinct and is rigidly protected by law. A single egg is laid in a shallow depression of the ground, without any nest.