Dianne Stubs, age 14, of Mize, Miss., for her question:

Is there really a bird called the bustard?

Yes, there really is a bustard and he is no relation whatever to the buzzard, The bustard is a stately relative of the cranes and the rail birds. However, he is not a native of the New World so we cannot expect to meet him except in a zoo.

There are several members of the bustard clan in both Europe and Asia. The largest of the family, the great bustard, weighs up to thirty pounds. and rates among the largest of flying birds. He is a slate grey,, decked with several bristly white plumes which he proudly displays when he goes courting. Bustard food includes seeds, grasses and greenery, insects, small reptiles and even little mammals. He is a strong flier and a great runner. In Asia, where he is hunted as a game birds he is chased on horseback.