BUST

(Italian, U »to, from the Latin bustum), in sculptnre, the representation of that portion of the human figure which comprises the head and the upper part of the body. Busts are of different exten — t: (1) such as consist of the head, the upper part of the neck, and the upper part of the shoulders; (2) heads with the upper part of the chest, to the end of the breast-bone {butts properly so called); and (3) heads with the whole chest to the middle of the body, often to the hips. Between the bust and its pedestal is sometimes a column, or a square prop; such busts are called Henme, so called because in ancient Greece such columns were commonly surmounted by a head of Hermes. From these Herme it is probable that the proper bust gradually arose, although it can neither be shown that busts existed in the early period of Greek art, nor had either the Greeks or Romans a special name for this kind of figure. The bust does not seem to have become common among the Greeks till the time of Alexander, nor among the Romans till the time of the empire. On the other hand, during the period when archaeological studies flourkhed among the Greeks, the portrait busts of the learned formed an important branch of art, since there was a general desire to have more or le complete galleries of such busts in the museums and libraries. The artists in these works exhibited a singular power of expre ing the character of those who were represented, and in this way we po e faithful likene es of So crates, Plato, Zeno the Stoic, and other philosophers, of poets and orators such as I so crates and Demosthenes, of A then i an statesmen and distKUguished women. In Rome, the images of the kings and of distinguished men of early times were undoubtedly prepared from the ancestral images which, embo ed and painted in wax, were placed in the niches in the atrium of patrician houses. These, however, were either mere fancy portraits, or they exhibited the leading family features of the descendants. The first bust that can be depended upon as giving a correct likene of the person represented is that of Sdpio African us the elder. The number of busts belonging to the time of the Roman Empire is very considerable, but those of the Roman poets and men of letters have not been preserved in nearly so large numbers as those of the Greeks. In modem times, in the Valhalla built by Louis I. of Bavaria^ and the Hall of Fame (Ruhmeshalle) at Munich, very large and interesting collections of marble busts have been brought together — the works of the leading sculptors of Germany. The chief difficulty in the execution of busts arises from this circumstance, that we are accustomed to estimate the size of the head by comparing it with the whole body. In a bust, therefore, the head appean disproportionately large, and the artist is obliged to yield, in some measure, to this ocular deception, by le ening its natural proportion. The first tolerably complete collection of drawings of antique busts was made by Fulvius Ursinus, and published with the title Illustrium Imagines (Rome, 1569, and Antwerp, 1606); in more recent times, a similar collection was published in the Iconographie Greoque of Visoonti (Paria, three vols. 1811). whid i 64 -was followed by his Iconograpbie Boxnaine in 29 (Paris, four vols.) BUSTARD, the trivial name of a species of ing bird belonging to the genus Otis, and to the family Fre iroetreB, C. The great bustard (Otis tarda) the largest of Buiopean land birds, the male weighing, on an average, 25 poimds. It is 4 feet in length, and measures 9 feet from tip to tip of the wings. The head and neck are ash-coloured, and there tuft of feathers about 5 inches long on each aide the lower mandible. The back is transversely barred with black and bright ferruginous colours, and primaries are black. The tail consists of twenty feathers, broadly baired with red and black. belly is white, the legs dusky, naked, and without hind toe. The female is but half the azo male, and has the crown of the head of a deep orange colour, traversed by red lines; the remainder head is brown. She otherwise resembles the except that the colour of her plumage is le bright. This species is found in most of the open and districts of the B. and K. of Europe and in Asia^. is now only a rare visitant to England, though merly common. They are very shy and vigilant, and by no means easy to shoot. They run great speed, and aid their course with their uke the ostrich. Although they rise on the with difficulty, they are said to fly many miles out resting. They feed on, grain, seed, worms, and lay two eggs, as large as those of a goose: are of a pale olive tint, with dark spots. The merely a hole scraped in the earth. They do wander far from their accustomed haunts, seldom going to a greater distance than 20 or 30 Their flesh is considered fine eating. 493