324 THE GIGANTIC CRANE. 



why the gentleman permitted such, in some respects, trouble- 

 some birds to build on his chimney-top unmolested. 



We suspect that constancy and fidelity amongst birds 

 exist to a greater degree than we are aware of; whatever 

 testimony can be collected on the subject certainly tends 

 to prove it. Thus a pair of Magpies had built their nest in 

 a tree, where they were constantly under the observation of 

 a person whose house was near at hand. One morning 

 early, during the absence of the male, the female flew from 

 her tree to a field hard by, where she was soon joined by a 

 male, who paid her great attention. During this interview 

 the mate returned to the nest, and on seeing his partner 

 hopping about familiarly with another, he immediately darted 

 upon the guilty parties, and attacking them with the greatest 

 anger and fierceness, put them to flight, and followed them : 

 whether he killed his faithless partner or not was unknown, 

 but she never returned ; and the deserted widower, after occa- 

 sionally visiting his nest for a day or two, finally quitted, 

 and disappeared altogether. It is not improbable, indeed, 

 that similar suspicions or prejudices may have been the cause 

 of some of the mysterious meetings already mentioned, in 

 which individuals were put to death. 



Of this tribe, there is one which, from its extraordinary 

 size, shape, and appearance, deserves to be particularly 

 noticed. It is called the Gigantic Crane (Ardea argila), a 

 native of the East Indies, and was the first of birds to meet 

 the eye of Bishop Heber, on his landing in India. " In the 

 morning, as the day broke," says he, " we were much struck 

 by the singular spectacle before us. Besides the usual 

 apparatus of a place of arms, the walks, roofs, and ramparts 

 of the fort swarmed with gigantic birds, the Hurgila, larger 

 than the largest Turkey, and twice as tall as the Heron, 

 which, in some respects, they much resemble, except that 

 they have a large blue and red pouch under the lower bill, 

 in which, we were told, they keep such food as they cannot 

 eat at the moment. These birds share with the Jackals, 

 who enter the fort through the drains, the post of scavenger; 

 but, unlike them, instead of shunning mankind day and 



