Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/491

 BUSTAMANTE BUSTARD 485 The duke of Anjou afterward procured for him the command of the castle of Angers. He at- tempted to seduce the countess of Montsoreau, who by her husband's command assigned an interview to him, when he was met by the count, and assassinated after a desperate resist- ance. His death, according to De Thou, was hailed with general delight. One of George Chapman's best dramas is "Bussy d'Ambois," and Alexandre Dumas made Bussy the hero of one of his novels, La Dame de Montsoreau. BUSTAMANTE, Anastasio, a Mexican physician, soldier, and statesman, born at Jiquilpan, in the province of Michoacan, July 27, 1780, died at San Miguel de Allende, Feb. 6, 1853. He was family physician to Don Felix Maria Calleja, military governor at San Luis Potosi, who in 1808 gave him a commission in the San Luis regiment of militia, composed of the sons of the wealthy. He served in all the cam- paigns in which Calleja commanded till 1819, gaining distinction especially in the battles of Aculco, Guanajuato, and Calderon, and at the siege of Cuautla in 1812, and rising to the rank of colonel. In 1820, having gained the confidence of Iturbide, he was made chief commander of the cavalry, and in 1821 mem- ber of the provisional junta. He was shortly afterward raised to the uank of field marshal by the regency, and appointed captain general of the eastern and western provinces of the interior. In April, 1822, he gained a signal Victory over the remaining Spanish forces near Juchi. After the death of Iturbide, having taken sides with the federal party, he was by the government of Victoria appointed anew military governor of the provinces of the inte- rior, with the rank of general of division, then the highest in the Mexican army. In 1829 he headed the revolution, and proclaimed the plan of Jalapa toward the end of the same year ; and the commencement of the following year found him vice president of the republic and exercising the supreme executive power. In 1832, a new revolution having taken place un- der Santa Anna, Bustamante resigned the presi- dency. In 1833 he was exiled and visited the principal countries of Europe, but especially France, where he resided till 1830, when he was recalled by the government after the fall of Santa Anna. He was reelected president of the republic about the middle of 1837, his ad- ministration continuing until the end of 1841. He then set out anew for Europe, and remained there till 1845. The next year he was appoint- ed president of the congress, the last impor- tant office that he filled. Bustamante was one of the most honorable of the public men of Mexico, and the republic was prosperous under his administration. BUSTARD (otis), a largo bird, peculiar to the dry, grassy plains of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It has not been found on the American con- tinent, and only one species in Australia. Bus- tards were formerly abundant in Great Britain, on the open wolds of Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and some parts of Scotland, where it is said that they were coursed with greyhounds, which is by no means impossible, as they cannot take wing easily or without considerable prepara- tion, and when hard pressed on a sudden have the habit of running with their wings outspread like sails to assist them, after the manner of ostriches, with which they have several points in common. There are two European species of this bird, which appears to form a connect- ing link between the gallinaceous tribes and the ostrich and cassowary. The great bustard (0. tarda), so called from his heaviness on the wing, for he is a fleet runner, stands nearly 4 ft. high, and weighs from 25 to 30 Ibs. The head and neck in the male are ash-colored, and on each side of the neck he has a tuft of feath- ers nearly 9 inches long springing from the base of the bill, and somewhat resembling those of the American pinnated grouse. Like them, also, they overlie two naked spots of skin, which in the bustard is of a violet color. The Great Bustard (Otis tarda). upper parts of the bird are beautifully variega- ted with black and rust color on a pale reddish ground. The belly and sides are white. The legs are long, naked above the knee, dusky in hue, and have no hind toe, but a callous promi- nence serving as a heel. The male bird has a water sac in the fore part of the neck, having its entrance under the tongue, capable of con- taining two quarts of water. The female is much smaller than the male, and less brightly colored ; her neck and head are brown, and she has not the curious water sac. The other spe- cies, the little bustard (0. tetrax), is only 17 inches long. It generally resembles the larger species in form and color, but its head is red- dish brown, while the neck of the male is black, with a narrow white border above and below. The upper parts are mottled with the same colors, but with finer and more delicate lines. This species is very common in France, where it is a shy, cunning, and wary bird, fre-