166 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



times on the tops of houses, now and then on trees, and frequently on the ground, 

 resting often on the whole leg (tarsus). The adjutant occasionally may seize a crow 

 or a myna, or even, as related, a small cat; but these are rare bits for it, and indeed 

 it has not the opportunity, in general, of indulging its taste for living birds, notwith- 

 standing Clavier's statement that its large beak enables it to capture birds on the 

 wing." 



V \ 



FIG. 82. Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, saddle-billed stork. 



The name of open-bill is suggested by a glance at the bird illustrated in the accom- 

 panying cut. Towards the end of the beak the lateral margins of the mandibles are 

 separated by a more or less open space, as if they were worn away, so as to assume 

 the shape of a pair of pinchers. The gap between the mandibles is said to exist even 

 in the young individuals, thus not being the result of attrition, as is generally sup- 

 posed, and the curious shape is believed to be " a provision of nature to enable them 

 to open the shells of the Unio, on which they feed." Their principal food being 



