The Adjutant Stork. 
29 
" Note the last sentence. The scribe was evidently of opinion that 
" people would not believe him, so thought to clinch matters by bluffing- ! 
" Rut, to do him justice, it is quite possible that he did see an Adjutant 
" swallow a crf)w, for other observers liave witnessed this, but the 
" remainder of the story rests upon the sandy fmmdation of the imagina- 
" tion. If the truth must be told, we do not know for certain what the 
" use of the pouch is. blyth suggested that it is analogous to the air 
" cell attached to one lung of the python or the boa-constrictor, and, as in 
" that case, no doubt supplies oxygen to the lungs during protracted 
" meals. The bird can thus ' guzzle ' to its heart's content without having 
" to stop every now and then to take a " breather.' " 
" But we must now return to the appearance of the bird, for the 
" account of this is not yet complete, since no mention has been made 
" of its eye. This is white and very small, and so gives the bird a wicked, 
" knowing expression, like that of an elephant. Col. Cunningham speaks 
" of ' the malignantly sneaking expression of the pallid eyes.' This is 
" perhaps a little severe on the Adjutant, but it is. I fear, quite useless to 
" deny the fact that he has ' a canister look in his heye.' 
" A mere description of the shape and colouring of the Adjutant 
" does not give any idea of his comicality. It is his acts rather than hi.s 
" appearance that makes him so ludicrous. Except when floating high 
" above the earth on his great pinions the bird always looks grotesque. 
" To say that he, as he walks along, recalls a hunch-backed old man who 
•• is deliberately ' clowning ' is to give a hopelessly inadequate idea of 
" the absurdity of his movements. Lockwood Kipling is nearer the mark 
" when he s.-iys : ' For . grotesque devilry of dancing the Indian Adjutant 
" beats creation. Don Quixote or Malvoh'o w(.-rc not half so solemn o'' 
'■ so mincing, and yet there is an abandonment of lightness of step, a wild 
" lift in each solemn prance, which are almost demoniacal. If it were 
" possible for the most angular, tall, and demure of elderly maiden ladies 
" to take a great deal too much champagne and then to give lessons in 
" ballet dancing, with occasional pauses of acute sobriety, perhaps some 
" faint idea might be conveyed of the peculiar quality of the Adjutant's 
" movements ' . . . . Adjutants are nowhere very abundant; they are 
" nevertheless spread over the whole of Northern India, but do not 
" appear to be found so far south as Madras. .Another species, however- — 
" the smaller Adjutant (L. jaz'anicus j- — has been observed on the Malabar 
" coast." 
This pair of birds arrived in a case al)out 5ft. x 4ft. x 
43/2ft., and getting them from tlie docks to London, and from 
London to Lingfield was a trying and troublesome task. My 
troubles began at Tilbury, for there the stationmaster at first 
refused to let me bripg them on, for the case and birds weighed 
over 2 cwt., and there has been a rule since war broke out that 
