MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY. 103 



detachment, who watched them daily : — 



" In June, 1877, when at Penang, S. S., B— - purchased, for the 

 sum of three or four dollars, two Adjutant birds of a black and 

 white colour ; head and bill of a yellowish colour, as was also the 

 neck; their bills were nearly a foot in length; they possessed but 

 very few feathers on the head and neck — in fact only a few sprout- 

 ing hairs : their backs and wings were of a greenish black, and 

 their breasts of a dirty white colour. The birds stood about three 

 feet in height . 



" They were never kept in confinement, and from the very 

 first were allowed to roam over a large open expanse of ground, 

 but never seem inclined to stray far, and very seldom even 

 attempted to fly ; and when they did it was rather a failure, and 

 consisted of a succession of bounds for about fifty yards, after 

 which they appeared to be quite exhausted. 



" They were curious birds to watch, and always gave one the 

 idea that the surroundings had but little attraction for them, 

 as they would spend more than half the day standing motion- 

 less opposite each other, bill to bill, and with both wings out- 

 spread, forming a most ludicrous picture ;, sometimes they would 

 stand like this for an hour or more ; but occasionally one of them 

 raised and stretched out one of its legs as if it were stiff; other- 

 wise they would scarcely move a muscle. I do not remember 

 ever hearing either of them utter a sound, though we often 

 listened. 



" They were very coarse feeders, and did not consider much 

 before they fed, either as regards quality or quantity. On one 

 occasion I threw to one of them, as fast as I could, one by one, 

 several small fish about six inches in length ; these he gulped 

 down to the number of thirty-two, and even then did not appear 

 satisfied. 



" After they had been with us about a month, one morning one 

 of them looked rather sorry for itself, and basked in the sun with 

 outspread wings for several hours ; but later in the day he lay 

 down on the grass, with his eyes closed, evidently very sick ; by 

 him stood his brother, quite unconcerned, and, as it seemed to 

 us (for we watched him closely), unaware of anything unusual 



