AVES— STORK. 



637 



functions of a scavenger has been repeatedly described by travellers ; and 

 Major Denham mentions his having frequently been a witness of the vora- 

 cious and omnivorous habits of the African. Nothing seems to come amiss 

 to its voracious appetite, for when carrion is scarce, it attacks reptiles, small 

 birds, and even the lesser quadrupeds, which it usually swallows entire. 



These birds are so peaceable in their manners, and so inclined to become 

 familiar, that there is little difficulty in taming them. Dr Latham gives an 

 amusing account, derived from Smeathman, of the behavior of a young indi- 

 vidual, which had been brought up in a state of domestication in the part of 

 Africa where that traveller resided. This bird always took its place at 

 dinner time, in the great hall, behind its master's chair, where it remained 



in expectation of its usual share in the meal. The servants had some diffi- 

 culty in protecting the dishes from its attacks previously to the arrival of the 

 guests ; they carried switches for the purpose, but it would frequently watch 

 its opportunity and snatch some favorite morsel before they were aAvare of 

 it. In this way it had been known to swallow an entire boiled fowl at a 

 single mouthful. It was permitted to fly at large about the island, and 

 roosted very high among the silk-cotton trees, from the tops of which, even 



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