1 42 THE JABIRU. 



till they appear mere specks in the firmament, or 

 entirely lost to the sight. In the hot months, when 

 not a cloud obscures the vault of the heavens, hun- 

 dreds of these gigantic birds may be seen performing 

 their graceful evolutions, and wheeling majestically 

 at a vast height, enabled to remain in so thin an 

 atmosphere, most probably, by the supply of air col- 

 lected in this bag. 



In its -appetite the Hurgila is as great a glutton as 

 our Heron. Nothing comes amiss to its all-digesting 

 stomach. A leg of mutton, and a litter of live kittens 

 swallowed whole, proved equally acceptable, with the 

 additional sauce of earth, bones and hair, picked up 

 between times. 



The fourth genus, Jabiru, very much resembles 

 the Storks, and appears to have similar habits, the 

 chief distinction consisting in the form of the bill, 

 which is rather fuller, and slightly curved upwards 

 at the end. The skin of the neck is wrinkled, and 



J3ea"k of tlio Jabiru. 



so flaccid, that it hangs down like the dewlap of a 

 cow, and probably may be of the same use as the 

 pouch of the Hurgila above mentioned. It is, indeed, 

 from considering this dewlap as an air-vessel, that 

 it derives its name Jabiru, which, in the language of 

 the Guarani Indians, in South America, signifies 



