XIX 



STORKS 



"Save some lazy stork that springs, 

 Trailing it with legs and wings." 



BROWNING. 



THE gigantic storks, commonly known under the 

 name of "adjutants," used formerly to be so abun- 

 dant in Calcutta at certain times of year, and formed 

 such a striking and characteristic feature in the town, 

 that one can hardly turn up any description or notice 

 of the locality without coming across some mention 

 of their manners and customs. This is, however, 

 no longer the case. Great numbers of them may, 

 doubtless, be found congregated in certain favoured 

 areas in the neighbourhood, but the progress of 

 sanitary improvement, limited though it may have 

 been, has greatly diminished the supplies of succulent 

 offal, which used formerly to bestrew the streets in 

 quantity equal to the demands of their truly magni- 

 ficent appetites. Hence they have almost entirely 

 deserted the interior of the town, and have betaken 

 themselves to places in the suburbs where stores 



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