ARDEID^. 44.3 



his caresses ; it welcomes his return with alacrity, and 

 seems to repine at his absence. In the same pro})ortion 

 it api)reciates the favours bestowed upon it ; it is jealous 

 of any rival, — should even a dog approach, it immediately 

 assails it with its beak, and drives it to a distance with 

 every demonstration of displeasure. It presents itself 

 regularly at the dinner -table, from which it chases all the 

 domestic animals ; sometimes even the negroes who wait 

 at table, should they happen to be strangers, and only 

 asks for a share of the dinner when it has expelled from 

 the room all who might aspire to favourable notice from 

 the members of the family. It is remarkably courageous ; 

 dogs of ordinary size are obliged to cede to its authority. 

 It walks out alone without any danger of losing itself, and 

 returns home when it thinks proper : it is even asserted 

 that the Agami may be ti-usted with the care of a flock 

 of sheep, and that every morning it will drive ducks and 

 fowls to their pasture, and bring them home at night 

 after carefully collecting any stragglers. As for the bird 

 itself, it is never shut up, but sleeps just where it pleases, 

 — upon the roof of a barn or in the farm -yard. In short, 

 the Agami is a faithful servant, intelligent, docile, and 

 affectionate, and, like the Dog, to a considerable extent 

 susceptible of education. The female, when about to lay, 

 scrapes a hole in the earth at the foot of some large tree, 

 in which she deposits her eggs without making any nest. 

 The eggs are from ten to sixteen in numbei", according to 

 the age of the bird ; they are of a spherical shape, larger 

 than those of a fowl, and of a clear green colour. The 

 Hesh of the Trumpeter when young is tender and pa- 

 latable, but that of the old birds is dry and generally 

 tough.* 



* Vieillot et Oudart, " Galorie des Oiseaux." 



