THE STORK 149 



about its master's house. He writes, "We had a nice 

 little baby monkey here a little while ago, and it died. 

 One of the boys held it up by its tail close to Chickabiddy's 

 {the Adjutant's) beak, and he swallowed it all down at one 

 gulp, leaving only a little bit of its long tail hanging out- 

 side the beak. Then two parrots died, and Chickabiddy 

 swallowed them down also in the same way — feathers, 

 bones, beak, and everything. 



" But strangest of all was the dinner Chickabiddy tried 

 to get yesterday (Sunday). I had my Bible class in my 

 room, and was talking to the boys, when I heard one of 

 my little kittens cry. At the same time I heard Chicka- 

 biddy making a great noise outside in the hall. I jumped 

 up to see what was the matter, and looked all about, but 

 could see no kitten, although I very distinctly heard it 

 crying. 



" Then I looked at Chickabiddy, and saw that his long 

 neck was very much swollen out, as if he had just 

 swallowed something, but his long beak was close shut. 

 Chickabiddy had swallowed my kitten ! From right down 

 his throat we could clearly hear it crying. We opened his 

 beak, and there we saw a little bit of tail just showing in 

 the throat. I pulled at the little bit of tail, and pulled 

 and pulled and pulled, until the little kitten was pulled 

 right out, all wet and crushed, but still alive and well. 

 Wasn't it funny ? " 



The Adjutant is a most odd-looking bird, and his 

 antics and posturings are as ugly and comical as you could 

 well imagine. Part of his ugliness is due to his enormous 

 beak, but part also to his almost bald head, and the large 

 puffy pouch which hangs at his breast. This pouch can 

 be blown out at will, just like a child's toy balloon. 



My girl readers will think of the Adjutant chiefly as 



