A IJ J UTANT. Leptoptilus J rgala. 



Some remarkable members of tins group now come before our notice. The first is tlie 

 well-known Adjutant or Argala of India, the former name being derived from its habit 

 of frequenting the parade-grounds. 



This fine bird is notable for the enormous size of the beak, which is capable of seizing 

 and sw^allowing objects of considerable size, a full-grown cat, a fowl, or a leg of mutton 

 being engulfed without any apparent difficulty. "The Adjutant is a most useful bird in 

 the countries which it inhabits, and is protected with the utmost care, as it thoroughly 

 cleans the streets and public places of the various offal which is flung carelessly in the 

 way, and would be left to putrefy but for the constant services of the Adjutant and 

 creatures of similar habits. The vulture is valuable in devouring dead animals of a large 

 size, as its beak is capable of tearing the hide and flesh from the bones, which are in their 

 turn the prey of the hy?ena ; but the Adjutant is chiefly important in swallowing the 



