280 A VES ORDER ARDEIFORMES. 



In India and Africa a curious species occurs, viz., the White-necked Stork 

 (Dissura episcopus), which, on examination, would seem to have a double tail, 

 whence its Latin name. The white under tail-coverts are longer than the 

 black tail-feathers, and are stiffened so as to appear like rectrices rather than 

 coverts. The same curious formation occurs in one of the American Storks 

 (Euxenura maguari). 



The Jabirus are the largest of the Storks, standing higher on their legs 

 than even the Adjutants. There are two species of Jabiru besides the 

 American one mentioned above, viz., Mycteria senegalensis of Africa and 

 M. australis of Australia. They have a very peculiar bill, which is slightly 

 upturned at the end, and of a black and red colour. 



Of a more ungainly form, and with a bare and scabious head, are the 

 Adjutants (Leptoptilus). They are very large birds, and as fossil remains 

 have been found in the Miocene deposits in France, we may conclude that 

 they were at one time much more widely distributed than they are now. At 

 present one species of Leptoptilus is African, another Indian, and a third 

 Javan. They all possess the beautiful soft under tail-coverts known as 

 44 Marabou " feathers, and on the neck they have a bare pendulous pouch 

 which they are able to innate ; and from the way in which this is done by 

 the birds in confinement, it would appear as if it was considered an ornamental 

 appendage, though from its livid colour the protrusion of this naked bag is 

 anything but ornamental. In India the Adjutants are protected on account 

 of their usefulness as scavengers, as they will devour almost anything, and 

 they may often be seen in the streets of the towns. In aviaries they often 

 stand on one leg for hours motionless, or, with their legs stretched forward 

 under them, they will go to sleep with their heavy heads resting on their 

 crops. Mr. Eugene Gates says that he noticed enormous numbers of 

 Adjutants in Pegu. <4 Along with the Pelicans," he says, "breeding in the 

 same trees, were innumerable Adjutants. One can hardly realise the number 

 of these birds that visit Pegu in October, unless, as I have done, one has seen 

 the vast armies which settle on the plains on their first arrival. I have 

 stood on a bund where I could see for about two miles around me, and the 

 whole area was literally covered with them. Some fifty birds stand huddled 

 together, then there is a bare spare of about 100 ft., and then another 

 group of birds. Their numbers are incredible. They all arrive suddenly in 

 the Pegu plain on the same day, and after resting for about two days, they 

 betake themselves to the forest, where I had the pleasure of visiting them. 

 Certainly almost all the Indian Adjutants must come to Pegu to breed. 

 These birds utter only one sound, and it resembles the lowing of a cow when 

 separated from her calf. It was the only sound heard in these gloomy 

 forests." Colonel Bingham found the nests of the Indian Adjutant on the 

 Nedong Hills in Tenasserim, and only succeeded in reaching the rocks on 

 which they were built after a stiff and difficult climb. 



These birds are generally known as the "Shell-Ibises,"' though they have 



no connection with the true Ibises, but are Storks of a peculiar type ; Mr. 



Leydecker calls them "Shell-Storks," which is a much 



The Open-billed more appropriate name for them, as their food consists 



Storks. Genus principally of molluscs, for the breaking of which the 



jinastomus. bird's " nut-cracker "-like bill is distinctly well adapted. 



The peculiar gap in the bill is not seen in the young birds, 



but seems to develop as the birds get older. 



These birds have also generally been called "Wood Ibises," and they seem 



