THE ADJUTANT. 



THIS bird is of the Heron tribe, and, accord- 

 ing to the Linnsean system, belongs to the order 

 of Waders. In its appearance there is some- 

 thing singular. Under the chin is a kind of 

 purse or bag, which seems adapted to receive 

 the water that they swallow with their food. 

 This connects it, in some degree, with the peli- 

 can. There is neither hair, feather, nor down, 

 on the head, which looks as if it were made of 

 \vood, - and this oddity is heightened by the 

 eye seeming to be set in it, as if withput lids 

 or any cartilaginous appendages. The beak is 

 equally anomalous ; it is composed of two long 

 sticks, having the appearance of wood, with 

 which the bird makes a loud chattering noise, 

 when cleaning them. The covert of the wings 

 and back is black, with a bluish tint ; the under 

 part of the body is whitish ; the legs and thighs 

 are long, unfeathered, and of a greyish hue ; 

 the neck also is devoid of feathers. 



(137) 



