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684 THE AUSTRALIAN JABIRU. 



rpfuse of slaughtered animals, and killing snakes and other unpleasant reptiles. It is 

 remarkable that the bird, though very far removed from the vulture, should have a 

 decidedly vulturine aspect ; its nearly naked head and neek adding greatly to the 

 semblance. 



The attitudes assumed by the Adjutant are varied, and generally partake of the 

 grotesque. It has a curious habit of airing itself on a hot day, by standing still with the 

 huge beak drooping towards the ground and nearly touching the earth, and its wings 

 stuck out straight from the body. In this odd attitude it will remain for a considerable 

 time, immovabh; as if carved in stone, and has about as grotesque an appearance as can 

 well be imagined. Sometimes it squats on the ground with its legs tucked under its body, 

 and sits looking about it with a superb air of dignity as of an enthroned monarch. 

 Sometimes it stalks menacingly along, its neck stretched to the utmost, its head thrust 

 forward and its huge bill open, looking a most formidable creature. 



It is, however, a cowardly kind of bird, and its assumption of valour is of the most 

 flimsy description, for it will run away from a child if boldly faced, and would as soon 

 face a bantam cock as a tiger. Some enemies, however, from which man would tlee, 

 are attacked and killed by the Adjutant, who thus redeems himself from a wholly 

 liusillanimous character. Serpents fall an easy prey to this liird, which has a fa.shion of 

 knocking them over before they can strike, and after battering them to death .swallows 

 them whole. During the inundations the Adjutants are invaluable, as they follow the 

 course of the rising waters, and make prey of the reptiles that are driven from their holes 

 by the floods. 



The capacity of the Adjutant's stomach seems to be almost unlimited, and its digestion 

 is so rapid that it can consume a very large amount of food daily. It Mill swalhnv a 

 whole joint of meat, or even so impracticable a .sidiject as a tortoise, its stomach being 

 endowed with the power of dissolving all the soft and digestible parts, and ejecting the 

 indigestible, such as the shell and bones. 



It is easily tamed, and soon attaches itself to a kind owner ; sometimes, indeed, 

 becoming absolutely troublesome in its familiarity. IMr. Smeathman mentions an instance 

 where one of these birds was domesticated, and was accustomed to stand l)eliind its 

 master's chair at dinner-time and take its share of the meal. It ^^•as, however, an 

 incorrigible thief, and was always looking for some opportunity of stealing the provisions, 

 so that the servants were forced to keep watch with sticks over the table. In spite of 

 their vigilance it was often too quick for them ; and once it snatched a boiled fowl off the 

 dish and swallowed it on the spot. 



The exquisitely fine and flowing plumes, termed " Marabou feathers," are obtained from 

 the Adjutant and a kindred species, the Maral.iou of Africa (Lepfoptilos Marahon). 



The general colour of the Adjutant is delicate ashen grey above and white beneath. 

 The great head and proportionately large neck are almost bare of covering, having oidy a 

 scanty supply of down instead of feathers. From the lower part of the neck hangs a kind 

 of dewlap, which can be inflated at the will of the bird, but generally hangs loose and 

 flabby. 



ITie Jabirus rank among the giants of the feathered race. They are very similar in 

 general form to the marabous, but may be distinguished from them by the form of bill, 

 which slightly tui-ns up towards the extremity. The head and part of the neck are also 

 nearly destitute of feathers. There are very few species known, and they all seem to 

 have similar habits ; haunting the borders of lakes, marshy grounds, and the banks of 

 rivers, where they find abundance of the fish and aqiratic reptiles on which they feed. 

 Of one species, the Australian Jabiru, Dr. Bennett has treated so fully and with such 

 graphic powers of narration, that a condensation of his interesting account must be 

 transferred to the.se pages. The whole narrative may be found in his "Gatherings of 

 a Xaturalist in Australia." One of these birds was taken at Tort ilacquarie and brought 

 safely to Dr. Bennett's home. 



" The first e\ ening it was at my house, it walked into ihe hall, gazed at the gas-lamjis 

 ■which had just been lighted, and then proceeded to walk upstairs, seeking for a roosting- 



