286 
YERTEBRATA. 
perish, ratlier tlian leave them to their fate. They are also generally regarded as patterns of 
conjugal fidelity. 
The Black Heron, C. nigra^ is somewhat smaller than the preceding, and is more rare ; found 
in Eastern Europe. 
Genus LEPTOPILOS : Leptopilos^ includes the Adjutant, L. Argala, which inhabits India 
and the Asiatic slands. It often stands as much as five feet in height, and measures seven feet and 
a half from the extremity of the bill to that of the toes. It has a large, slightly bent bill ; the 
head and neck are nearly bare, and in front of the neck is a large pouch, v/hich hangs down like 
a dewlap, and is capable of being inflated. Its voracity is extreme ; it devours every thing that 
comes in its way, and swallows a rabbit, a cat, or even a leg of mutton, at one mouthful ; and, 
from its services as a scavenger, its presence is encouraged in Calcutta and other large towns ; it 
is even sometimes domesticated. Great care is necessary to keep provisions out of its way, as 
otherwise they would quickly disappear. In a wild state these birds live in companies, generally 
frequenting the mouths of rivers, where, at a distance, they look not unlike a party of men en- 
gaged in picking up shell-fish on the beach. 
The Marabout Stork, Leptopilos marabou, is found in the tropical portion^ of Africa, where 
it frequents the vicinity of the negro villages, and assists the vultures in their filthy avocation of 
clearing away garbage. It is even more singular in its ugliness than the Indian species ; but it 
is from this bird that the beautiful plumes known as Marabout feathers are obtained. These 
feathers grow under the wings. 
Genus MYCTERIA : Mycteria. — This includes the Jahirus, which are little inferior in size to 
the Adjutants, and which they resemble in their mode of life. One species, which has the head 
and neck bare, is found in South America ; those of the old world have those parts of the body 
clothed with feathers. 
Genus ANASTOMUS : Anastomus. — This includes the Open-Bills, of which there are several 
species, and which are about the size of the common Stork : they inhabit tbe warmer regions of 
Asia and Africa. A species found at the Cape, the A. lamelliger, which is of a brown tint, with a 
purplish metallic gloss, is remarkable for having the tips of the stalks of nearly all the feathers 
terminated by a shining black horny disc of an oblong form. 
THE ARDEIN^ OR TRUE HERONS. 
These resemble the Storks, but are smaller, and some are of diminutive size. They are solitary 
in their habits, frequenting the margins of lakes and rivers, or marshy places- in which there are 
numerous pools of water, wading into the shallows in search of their prey, which consists princi- 
pally of fish, and often standing motionless for a long time, watching until some fish passes within 
their reach, when they suddenly dart out the neck with great rapidity, seize their prey with their 
strong bills, and generally swallow it at once. Occasionally, either by design or accident, they 
transfix the fish with one of the mandibles ; and Mr. Yarrell has given an account of a case in 
which a heron struck its beak through the head of an eel, piercing both eyes, when the eel, find- 
ing itself unable to escape, coiled itself round the neck of the heron so tightly as to prevent the 
bird from breathing, and they were both found dead in this situation ! They walk gravely, and 
with a certain amount of elegance, and possess great power of flight, although they rarely fly very 
fast. At the breeding season they usually quit their customary solitude, and collect into com- 
munities of variable number. Their nests are broad and flat, formed of sticks, twigs, and similar 
materials, and placed sometimes on the ground and sometimes on trees. At this period they also 
frequently leave the sequestered spots in which they pass the greater part of their time, and ap- 
proach nearer to the habitations of man, often building their nests in the large trees surrounding 
some old mansion. Most of these birds are migratory. Their flesh was formerly much esteemed, 
and pursuing them with falcons was one of the highest sports of the middle ages. The heron 
was then called HeronsTiow, and not to know the haivk from the heronshoio was deemed an evi- 
dence of great stupidity. Hence we have the vulgar proverb, to Jcnow a hawk from a handsaw. 
Genus ARDEA : Ardea. — This includes the common European species, the Gray or Crested 
Heron, A. cinerea, upward of three feet in length, of a bluish-gray tint above, white beneath, and 
