304 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



twisting and wriggling, strives vainly to escape from the for- 

 midable pincers which hold it in carcere duro. The bird throws 

 back his head, and the reptile appears notably diminished in 

 size ; a few more gulps and it has entirely disappeared. And 

 now the sedate bird continues his stately promenade with the 

 self-satisfied mien of a merchant who has just made a successful 

 speculation, and is engaged in the agreeable calculation of his 

 gains. But, lo ! again the monstrous bill descends, and the 

 same scene is again repeated. The good services of the giant 

 heron in clearing the land of noxious reptiles, and the havoc he 

 is able to make among their ranks, may be judged of by the 

 simple fact, that, on opening the body of one of them, a land- 

 tortoise ten inches long and a large black cat were found entire 

 within it, the former in the pouch, as a kind of stock in trade, 

 the latter in the stomach, all ready for immediate consumption. 

 The Marabou Storks, though so intensely ugly, furnish in 

 their superb white and downy plumes, which grow under their 

 Avings, a highly prized ornament of beauty. To procure these 

 valuable feathers, of which each bird generally yields but four 

 serviceable ones, they are bred in some villages in the 

 neighbourhood of Calcutta, but may also be seen stalking about 

 the streets of the ' City of Palaces,' where, on account of their 

 scavenger utility, a heavy fine is imposed upon their destruc- 

 tion. 



Brehin, who chased the Marabou on the banks of the White 

 Nile, found him a most provoking game, always regulating his 

 steps after those of his pursuer and keeping at a safe distance 

 of two or three hundred paces. Such is his caution that he 

 places sentinels to give notice of approaching danger, which is 

 the more remarkable as he is one of the most voracious of birds. 

 Trusting to his agility and the certainty of his eye, the 

 Indian ichneumon or Mongoos attacks without liesitation the 

 most venomous serpents. The cobra, which drives even the 

 leopard to flight, rises before the little creature with swelling 

 hood and fury in its eye ; but, swift as thought, the ichneumon, 

 avoiding the death-stroke of the projecting fangs, leaps upon its 

 back, and fastening his sharp teeth in the head, soon despatches 

 the helpless reptile. 



The serpents sometimes even feed upon their own brethren. 

 Thus a rat-snake in the Zoological Gardens was once seen to 



