624 
GIGANTIC STORK. 
The servants were obliged to watch it carefully, 
and to defend the provisions by beating it off with 
sticks ; yet, notwithstanding every precaution, it 
would frequently snatch off something from the 
table. It one day purloined a whole boiled fowl, 
which it swallowed in an instant. It used to fly 
about the island, and roost very high amongst 
the silk cotton-trees ; from this station, at the 
distance of two or three miles, it could see when 
tlie dinner was carried across the court ; when 
darting down, it would arrive early enough to enter 
with some of those who carried in the dishes. 
When sitting, it was observed always to rest 
itself on the whole length of the hind part of the 
leg. It sometimes stood in the room for half an 
hour after dinner, turning its head alternately, as 
if listening to the conversation. 
Its courage was not equal to its voracity, for a 
child of eight or ten years old was able to put it to 
flight, though it woidd seem at first to stand on 
the defensive, by threatening with its enormous 
beak, widely extended, and crying out with a loud 
hoarse voice. It preyed on small quadrupeds, 
birds, and reptiles ; and though it would destroy 
poultry, it never dared openly to attack a hen with 
her young ones. It had been known to swallow a 
cat whole, and a bone of a shin of beef being 
broken, served it but for two morsels. 
