82 ZOOLOGY OF INDIA. 



posed to exist in India. But the species most frequently 

 found there,. though very closely allied, does not seem en- 

 tirely identical with the European kind. It is the yellow- 

 lipped plover ( Charadriu's xanthocheilus) of Wagler. 



Of the couriers (genus Cursorius) at least two species 

 inhabit Asia, viz. the Coromandel courier (C. Asiaticus), 

 figured on the 22d plate of our " Illustrations of Zoology," 

 and the so-called European species (C. isahellinus of Meyer) 

 which Professor Jameson lately received from the north of 

 India.* ■ . 



The gigantic stork {Ardea duhia of Gmelin, Ciconia ar- 

 gala, Vigors) is* a species well known in India, where it 

 performs^the services .of a scavenger, and is consequently 

 protected even in the streets of populous cities. Its habits 

 appear to be somewhat migratory. It arrives in Bengal 

 about the commencement of the rainy season, and is useful 

 in clearing the country of snakes and other reptiles, as well 

 as of offal. It is a most voracious creature, and will devour 

 as much at a single 'meal as would satisfy four hungry men. 

 The bill is of enormous size, and the bird itself measures 

 from five to seven feet in length, including the legs.f 



The genus Anastomus, of which the Pondicherry and 

 Coromandel herons of Latham may ser\'e as examples, is 

 peculiar to the East Indies. These birds present a remark- 

 able peculiarity in the structure of their bills. The mandi- 

 bles touch each other only at their points and bases, thus 

 leaving an open gaping space in the centre. The last- 

 named species is common on the banks of the Ganges and 

 other Indian rivers, and frequents the Coromandel coast 

 during the months of September, October, and November, 

 feeding on fish and reptiles. 



Of Indian birds allied to the snipe and woodcock kind we 

 shall mention no more than the Bengal rynchsea, of which 

 the synonymes seem very vaguely applied in books of natu- 

 ral history, probably in consequence of the strong resem- 



* This species ,also occurs over a considerable extent of the African 

 continent, and sometimes makes its way as far north as the temperate 

 parts of Europe. It vv-as once shot near St. Albans in Kent. .The speci- 

 men alluded to is now, we believe, in the British Museum, and is said lo 

 have been purchased by Mr. Donovan, at the time of the Leverian sale, 

 for eight5'-three guine&s. 



t For a lucid account of the differences between the species above 

 Darned and the African Marabou, see Zool. Gar. vol. ii. p. 278. 



