THE HERON. 



Adjutant 



Boatbill. 



The Adjutant is a native of the East Indies; it measures seven feet and a half from the top of the beak 

 to the claws; it has a very large beak, and a drooping crop of considerable dimensions. Its courage is not 

 equal to its voracity ; for a child of eight or ten years old soon puts it to flight with a switch; though, at 

 first, it seems to stand upon its defence, by threatening with its enormous bill widely extended, and crying 

 out with a loud, hoarse voice, like a bear or a tiger. It is an enemy to small quadrupeds, as well as birds 

 and reptiles, and destroys fowls and chickens, though it dare not attack a hen, with her young openly ; it 



preys also on rats, young kittens, and the like, and has 

 been known to swallow a cat whole ; a bone of a shin 

 of beef being broken asunder, serves it but for two 

 morsels. 



Dr. Latham observes that these birds in their wild 

 state live in companies, and when seen at a distance, near 

 the mouths of rivers, coming towards an observer, which 

 they often do with their wings extended, may well be 

 taken for canoes upon the surface of a smooth sea; when 

 on the sand-banks, for men and women picking up shell- 

 fish or other things on the beach. 



The form of the beak of the Boatbill is very peculiar; 

 it is broad, depressed, and sharp at the point. The 

 Boatbill is an inhabitant of South America ; it is about 

 the size of a Crow ; the tail and part of the back are 

 of an ash-color; the under parts of the body are white, 

 and the residue of the plumage is black. 



Green Heron. (1j88> 



