STOCKS, 311 



bronchial tubes are incomplete behind, as in the white-bellied stork, but in 

 the third they are complete like those of the true storks, although narrower at 

 the back than in front. In the American jabiru the head and neck are bare and 

 black, and the remainder white; but in the African species the feathered head 

 and neck, the wing-coverts, the shoulders and the tail are black, with a metallic 

 lustre, while the rest of the plumage, inclusive of the quills, is dazzling w r hite. 

 In the latter species the iris is yellow, and the beak red at the base, then black 

 for a short distance, and blood-red in its anterior half, while the fleshy saddle on 

 the upper-part of its base is variously coloured. The legs are mostly greyish 

 brown, but the toes are carmine -red. In length the male measures upwards of 

 59 inches. The saddle-billed jabiru is described as being one of the handsomest of 

 all the storks when in its native wilds, being especially beautiful during flight, when 

 the white quills of the wings stand out in marked contrast to their black coverts. 

 It is found on both the White and Blue Nile to the southward of the 14th parallel 

 of north latitude, and thence through the Sudan, but it also occurs on both the 

 east and west coasts. Living in pairs, it frequents sandbanks on the rivers, as 

 well as the margins of lakes and swamps ; but it is so shy, and at the same time 

 generally so rare, that but little is known of its habits. 



Adjutant or The l ar g e st and at the same time by far the ugliest of the 



Marabou stork, storks, are the adjutants or marabous of the Oriental region and 

 Africa, which apparently derive their military title from their measured walk. 

 These ungainly birds are primarily distinguished by the presence of a large, 

 naked, pendulous pouch on the front of the throat, which may measure as 

 much as 16 inches, and has no connection with the gullet, although probably 

 communicating with the respiratory organs. They are further characterised 

 by the large body, thick and naked neck, by the head being either bare or 

 thinly clad with down, and by the enormous size of the beak, which is very 

 thick, four-sided, and somewhat wedge-shaped, with a sharp point. The legs 

 are of great length. The whole plumage is rough and untidy-looking ; the large 

 and rounded wings have the fourth quill the longest; while the moderately 

 long tail is characterised by the great development of its under-coverts, which 

 form the well-known marabou or comercolly feathers. Our illustration represents 

 the African species (Leptoptilus crumeniferus), known to the Arabs as abu scin 

 (father of the leather bottle 1 ), in which the head is reddish flesh-coloured, 

 sprinkled over with short hair-like feathers. The plumage of the back is a dark 

 metallic green, while that of the neck and under-parts is pure white ; the quills 

 of the w r ing and tail being black and lustreless, and the greater wing-coverts 

 having their outer webs bordered with white. The iris is brown, the beak a dirty 

 whitish yellow, and the leg and foot black, generally with a superficial coating of 

 white. The total length of a male is about 63 inches. In India and the Burmese 

 countries the genus is represented by the great Indian adjutant (L. dubius), of 

 which there is a larger and a smaller race ; while the Javan adjutant (L. javanicus) 

 is a smaller Oriental species. Remains of extinct adjutants occur in the Pliocene 

 rocks of the north of India, and probably in the Miocene deposits of France. 



1 This is the derivation given "by Brehm ; but Sir S. Baker says that the name is abu seen, or father of 

 the beak. 



