30 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



fective in regard to proportion ; for some of 

 the flowers are much diminished, while the in- 

 sects upon them are represented of their natural 

 size. 



He broughf her, also, a few stuffed birds ; 

 one of which, the adjutant bird, is such a pro- 

 digious creature, that I scarcely looked at the 

 others. It measures, from the crown of the 

 head to the foot, five feet two inches ; from tip 

 to tip of the wings, fourteen feet ; and the other 

 dimensions are proportionably great. Its general 

 colour is black, or slate blue, though a few of the 

 small feathers round the neck, and on part of the 

 body, are white. 



It is called the hurgill, in Bengal. They say 

 that when alive it majestically stalks along, and 

 looks like an Indian ; and when seen near the 

 mouths of rivers with extended wings, might be 

 taken for a canoe. There is a curious supersti- 

 tion among the Indians, that the souls of the 

 Brahmins possess these birds. They are very 

 ravenous, and have a most capacious stomach, 

 as well as a large craw, which hangs down the 

 fore part of the neck like a pouch. The captain 

 told Mrs. B. , that in the pouch of one which was 

 killed, a land tortoise ten inches long was found, 

 and in the stomach, a cat ; even a leg of mutton, 

 or a litter of young kittens, are easily swallowed. 

 He heard of one that had been caught when young: 

 be was easily tamed, arid being always fed in the 



