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 

 the dinner was carried across the court; when 

 darting down, it w^ould 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 would 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. 



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