ciconid^:. 731 



The Adjutant is found throughout the greater part of India, is 

 rare in the South, but extremely common in part of Northern India, 

 and more especially in Bengal and North-eastern India. I never 

 saw it in the Carnatic nor in Malabar ; it is occasionally met with 

 in Mysore, and is not rare in Hyderabad, thence becoming more 

 common and abundant northwards. It spreads through Burmah to 

 the Malayan peninsula. It is only a temporary resident in India, 

 coming in towards the close of the hot weather in April or May, 

 and remaining till October. A very few barren or unpaired birds 

 remain occasionally in parts of the country. 



In Calcutta, and some other large towns, the Adjutant is a 

 familiar bird, unscared by the near approach of man or dog, and 

 protected in some cases by law. It is an efficient Scavenger, 

 attending the neighbourhood of slaughter-houses, and especially the 

 burning grounds of the Hindoos, where the of ten half -burnt carcasses 

 are thrown into the rivers. It also diligently looks over the heaps 

 of refuse and offal thrown out in the streets to await the arrival of 

 the scavenger's carts, where it may be seen in company with 

 dogs, kites, and crows. It likes to vary its food, however, and 

 may often be seen searching ditches, pools of water, and tanks, 

 for frogs or fish. In the Deccan it soars at an immense height in 

 the air along with Vultures, ready to descend on any carcass that 

 may be discovered. After it has satisfied the cravings of its 

 appetite, the Adjutant reposes during the heat of the day, some- 

 times on the tops of houses, now and then on trees, and frequent- 

 ly on the ground, resting often on the whole leg (tarsus). The 

 Adjutant occasionally may seize a Crow or a Myna, or even, 

 as related, a small cat ; but these are rare bits for it, and indeed 

 it has not the opportunity, in general, of indulging its taste for 

 living birds, notwithstanding Cuvier's statement that its large 

 beak enables it to capture birds on the wing. A writer in 

 Chambers' Journal for 1861, describes an Adjutant swallowing a 

 Crow, and states that he ' saw it pass into the sienna-toned pouch 

 of the gaunt avenger. He who writes saw it done.' Again, * the 

 Adjutant's cry very much resembles water flowing from a narrow- 

 necked bottle, and he invariably utters it when about to swallow 

 a piece of offal.' These utterly unfounded statements called up 



