M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta, 91 



found in Scania, near the woods which they inhabit. In the 

 wood just mentioned they buikl close to each other in the oak- 

 trees, and agree well together ; but in other places they usually 

 will not allow another bird in their vicinity, without a violent 

 battle arising when they come near each other^s nests. 



The storks which I saw in Bengal had the beak and legs red 

 as with us, but it occurred to me that the black between the beak 

 and the eye in the males was somewhat broader. 



75. Ciconia duhia. — Ardea dubia, Gm. ; Raffl. Sumatr. Ardea ar- 

 gala, Lath. Ciconia marabu, Temm. PI. Col. 330 ; Wagl. Syst. (De 

 nomine vide infra.) 



Cinerascens (absque nitore viridi), capite colloque nudis, jugulo 

 inferius caruncula conica dependente. 



Adulta : Corpore supra nigro-cinereo, subtus albo ; coUo pallida 

 rubro, caruncula longiore. Junior y tota dilutius cinerascens. De 

 ceteris, confer descr. Wagl. etTemm. Ala flexa long. 3 pedum. 



This Stork, with the American Ciconia mycteria and the Con- 

 dor, comes in size next to the Struthious birds. After it follows 

 an African Stork, the above- described Indian Crane, the two 

 Vultm-es of South Europe, the Swan, AJbatros, &c. ; our Eagles 

 follow, and so on. Ciconia duhia is 12 feet between the tips of 

 the wings, or near the size of the Condor, and 5 feet to the top of 

 the head when it walks, which is not more than Grus antigone ; 

 but the body is larger. It is a prodigy of ugliness ; gray, dirty, 

 with the head and neck naked, reddish, thinly strewed with hair, 

 which on the nape forms a ragged tuft ; on the lower part of the 

 neck is a loose fringe of feathers, over which there hangs from 

 the throat a fleshy caruncle, much like that over the beak of a 

 turkey-cock. The whole appearance indicates stupidity, especially 

 when in hot weather it sits upon its heels with the tibiae erect, 

 and gasps with the heat. The beak is disproportionately thick, 

 and so strong that it can cut off the arm from a corpse. Like 

 the vultures in Bengal, this Stork lives chiefly on the putrid 

 bodies which are cast up on the river banks, as I have often 

 stated. The Hindoos burn their dead, and this is done as far as 

 possible on the banks of the sacred river ; but as a complete 

 funeral pile costs more than the poorer people can afford for their 

 dead relatives, these are commonly laid at ebb-tide close to the 

 water's edge upon some straw, which is set fire to, in order to 

 fulfill the ordinances of their religion, after which the sHghtly 

 scorched body is carried off by the flood-tide to drift about until 

 it lodges by chance upon the shore, where predacious animals 

 take charge of its burial. By day the vultures, crows, and espe- 

 cially this species of Stork, contribute to the destruction of the 

 corpse, and by night troops of jackals arrive to complete the 

 work ; dogs also often partake in the feast. 



7* 



