STORKS— B USTARD- Q U AIL— J A CAN AS 1 99 



neck is covered with short, white down, but the crown of the head, unlike that of 

 the African representative of the species, is wholly black. In the giant storks the 

 beak is much compressed at the sides, with the tip bent slightly upwards, and 

 the upper half flattened towards the base. The tropical parts of Asia, Africa, 

 Australia, and America, respectively form the habitats of the four species of these 

 birds. The Indian black-necked stork (XenorhyncJtus asiaticus) which ranges from 

 the Malay Peninsula to India and Ceylon in the west, and Australia in the south- 

 east, is similar in general habits to other members of the tribe. The ugliest and in 

 some respects the most remarkable of all storks are the adjutants, or marabouts, 

 which are common to the warmer parts of Africa and Asia. Among other dis- 

 tinctive features of these birds are the large, pointed, four-sided beak, the pouch 

 on the breast (absent in one), the bare head and neck, the soft and shaggy plumage, 

 and the soft curling plumes of the under tail-coverts, which are so much valued in 

 the feather-trade. In all these respects adjutants differ markedly from other storks, 

 as indeed they do in their habits, which approximate to those of vultures ; these birds 

 living on carcases and offal, and playing an important part as scavengers. The 

 best known of the two Oriental representatives of the group is the great Indian 

 adjutant (Leptoptilus dubius), whose range extends from northern India to Sumatra, 

 Java, and Borneo. The smaller Javan adjutant (L. javanicus), which lacks the 

 pouch, inhabits Ceylon and eastern China as well as India and the Malay Islands 

 mentioned above. Africa and India form the respective homes of the three kinds of 

 shell-storks, distinguished from the rest of the tribe by the form of the beak, which 

 gapes in the middle owing to its two halves shutting closely only at the tip and base. 

 These birds feed on fishes, frogs, insects, and worms, but mainly on molluscs, the 

 shells of which their peculiarly shaped beaks are admirably adapted to crush. The 

 Indian shell-stork (Anastomus oscitans) inhabits India, Assam, and Manipur, but is 

 rare in Pegu, and unknown in Burma, though it reappears in Cochin China. In the 

 wood-storks, which inhabit the warmer parts of Africa, Asia, and America, the upper 

 half of the beak is rounded, with the point bent slighth' downward, being in this 

 respect somewhat intermediate between that of the ibises and that of other storks. 

 The Indian wood-stork (Pseudotantalus leucocephahis) is one of the best known birds 

 of the country, being very common in well-watered parts, where it lives alone or in 

 parties, breeding not unfrequently in colonies on large trees in the neighbourhood 

 of villages. It is easily tamed, and inhabits India and Ceylon, Burma, Cochin 

 China, and southern China. 



The bustard-quails, which are widely spread through the warmer 

 Bustard-Quails. . •/ x » 



parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, are represented by the black 



species known as the island bustard-quail (Tumix pugnax), whose range extends 



through south-eastern Asia from India and Ceylon to southern China, Formosa, 



Sumatra, and Java. Although these birds live in pairs, it is the male which 



incubates the eggs and takes care of the young, while the females fight With one 



another for the possession of partners. 



Jacanas and Another noteworthy group are the jacanas, characterised by the 



Water-Pheasant, inordinate length and slenderness of their legs and toes, whereby 



they are enabled to walk on the floating leaves of water-plants. The Indian 



species (Parra indica) ranges from India through Burma and the Malay Peninsula 



