40 



A D N A A D O X A. 



into the streets, or one of the animals upon which 

 they prey cannot make its appearance, without the 

 bird instantly being on the spot. We have nojcnow- 

 ledge of their sense of smell ; and indeed the action 

 of that sense in all the tropical birds which feed upon 

 carrion and other tainted substances is a matter of 

 obscurity ; but they are exceedingly quick-sighted ; 

 and whether when inland or on the shores, few 

 objects of the size or aspect of their prey can stir with- 

 out their notice. As they partake something of the taste 

 of vultures in the readiness with which they find, and 

 the rapacity with which they devour, carrion, they 

 also agree with those birds in their cowardly nature, 

 and the indisposition they have to attack even a small 

 animal ; if it shows an inclination to fight, they scream, 

 or rather roar, elevate their wings, and open their 

 great bills as if they would swallow all before them ; 

 but a child may drive them off with a switch ; and 

 they avoid the menace of the smallest dog, or even 

 that of a brood hen, though they hesitate not to 

 swallow the chickens if they can do it in the absence 

 of the dam. The quietude of cats, unless when hunt- 

 ing, and their crouching and lurking habit, render 

 them much more manageable prey for these birds, 

 which can pounce upon and swallow them in an 

 instant. 



There is another species, of a dull blackish-green 

 colour clouded with greyish ash, and having greenish 

 metallic reflections on the secondary quills, and red- 

 dish brown spots on the middle coverts. It 

 is found in Sumatra and Java, and has been named 

 Ciconla Javanica by Dr. Horsfield ; but its manners, 

 in as far as they may be different from the rest of the 

 genus, are not much known. 



THE AFRICAN ADJUTANT (Ciconia marabou). 

 This species is found on the shores and along the 

 banks of the larger rivers of tropical Africa, shifting 

 its locality with the season, as is the case with the 

 others. This one has been sometimes confounded 

 with the former, from which it does not appear greatly 

 to differ either in aspect or in habits. It is said 

 to be without the white in the wings, and to have the 

 feathers on the breast less produced. It is equally 

 cowardly and voracious, and from the latter propen- 

 sity it needs no taming, as it will-readily come into 

 towns, or even into houses, if it can get food. Like 

 the others, it swallows animals of considerable size, 

 bones and all ; but it does not break the bones, indeed 

 the texture of the bill is not suited for such a purpose. 

 The following account of one in a state of domestica- 

 tion, in the possession of a native chief near Sierra 

 Leone, is in substance from Mr. Smeathman, to whom 

 we are indebted for many other particulars in the 

 Natural History of Africa. The specimen in question 

 stood about five feet in height. It used to be fed in 

 the great hall of the chief's habitation, where he and 

 his guests dined ; and so punctual was it to the dinner 

 hour, that it used to plant itself behind his chair before 

 the company arrived. When the dinner was served, 

 it marched about.; and if a share, and a pretty large 

 share, was not given it, it made no scruple in helping 

 itself, not to trifles, but substantial fare, for a roast 

 fowl was only a single mouthful. It required, indeed, 

 a good deal of restraint ; and the servants had to carry 

 switches for the purpose of beating it away from the 

 meat, and though beaten at one point, it would imme- 

 diately renew the attempt at another. It is, indeed, a 

 very general habit with those birds which can be 

 tamed through the medium of their rapacious appe- 



tites the chief way, indeed, in which birds can be 

 tamed to return instantly to that food which they 

 have been beaten for attempting to purloin. They 

 cannot be shamed as a dog can be, neither can they 

 be permanently frightened. The one in question 

 being fed without any other labour than that of swal- 

 lowing, which is a snort and easy process with such 

 width of throat, was accustomed to fly about during 

 the day, or to perch in a grove of cotton trees at 

 the distance of nearly two miles. But, even from 

 that distance, it could see when dinner was serving ; ' 

 and though it did not begin its flight till the said 

 dishes were carried through the court, it was in the 

 hall before all the 'dinner was in order. Smeathman 

 farther describes these birds as standing full seven 

 feet in height, and as appearing like canoes on the 

 smooth water, when moving along the banks in lines 

 with extended wings. At other times, when feeding 

 on the shores, they had the appearance of human 

 beings engaged in picking up shell-fish, which is no 

 uncommon employment of the women and children 

 in tropical countries. 



AMERICAN ADJUTANT (Ciconia maguari). This 

 is a much smaller species than the Asiatic or the 

 African, being only about half the length, and rather 

 less than half as much in the extent of the win<rs. 

 The neck and head are feathered, except a small por- 

 tion round the eyes. The general plumage in the 

 mature state is white, with the quills and upper tail 

 coverts dusky green inclining to black. It bears 

 considerable resemblance to the common white 

 stork of the old continent, only the bill is ash- 

 coloured instead of red, as in that. It is found chiefly 

 in the central parts of South America, migrating by 

 the valley of La Plata from the central heights be- 

 tween the sources of that river and the branches of 

 the Amazon, which are inundated during the rains, 

 and the marshy shores in the southern parts of the 

 Pampas. It has sometimes been confounded with the 

 Jaribus, which inhabit the marshy grounds nearer the 

 shores of the Caribbean Sea. See articles CICONIA 

 and STORK. 



ADNA (Leach, Lamarck). This genus of shells 

 was constituted by Dr. Leach, and has been adopted 

 by Lamarck, and some other naturalists ; it nearly 

 approximates to the balani. The shell is cup-shaped, 

 sessile, composed of one part, with a lozenge-shaped 

 aperture, closed by four valves or detached pieces ; 

 it is slightly ribbed externally ; the operculum trans- 

 versely streaked ; and it is of* a fine rose colour. The 

 English adna is found on the coast of Devonshire, 

 attached particularly to the Coryophillia Anglica. 



ADONIS (Linnaeus). A showy genus of plants 

 comprising ten species of annual and perennial hardy 

 herbs, cultivated for their flowers. Linnaean class and 

 order, Polyandna Potygynia ; Natural order, Rar*incu- 

 lacecc. From the natural order, however, it is distin- 

 guishable by wanting the nectariferous claw at the base 

 of each petal ; and from the other genera by the many 

 dry sharp pointed grains of its fruit. The A. aulum- 

 nalis is found, sometimes in great plenty, in corn-fields, 

 and called by country people the pheasant's eye. 



ADOXA. A name applied to a genus of plants 

 belonging to the natural family SaxrfrageeE or Saxi- 

 frage Tribe; and to the class Octandria, order Tetra- 

 gynia, of the Linnaean system. The name is derived 

 from two Greek words, , without, and $?, glory, in 

 reference to the humble and unassuming growth of 

 the plant. Generic characters: calyx, divided into 



