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THE ADJUTANT \ OR ARGALA 
engulfed without any apparent difficulty. The Adjutant is a most useful bird in the countries 
which it inhabits, and is protected with the utmost care, as it thoroughly cleans the streets 
and public places of the various offal which is flung carelessly in the way, and would be left 
to putrefy but for the constant services of the Adjutant and creatures of similar habits. The 
vulture is valuable in devouring dead animals of a large size, as its beak is capable of tearing 
the hide and flesh from the bones, which are in their turn the prey of the hyena ; but the 
Adjutant is chiefly important in swallowing the refuse of slaughtered animals, and killing 
snakes and other unpleasant reptiles. It is remarkable that the bird, though very far removed 
from the vulture, should have a decidedly vulturine aspect ; its nearly naked head and neck 
adding greatly to the semblance. 
The attitudes assumed by the Adjutant are varied, and generally partake of the grotesque. 
It has a curious habit of airing itself on a hot day, by standing still with the huge beak droop- 
ing towards the ground and nearly touching the earth, and its wings stuck out straight from 
the body. In this odd attitude it will remain for a considerable time immovable, as if carved 
in stone, and has. about a's grotesque an appearance as can well be imagined. Sometimes it 
squats on the ground with its legs tucked under its body, and sits looking about it with a 
superb air of dignity as of an enthroned monarch. Sometimes it stalks 'menacingly along, its 
neck stretched to the utmost, its head thrust forward, and its huge bill open, looking a most 
formidable creature. 
It is, however, a cowardly kind of bird, and its assumption of valor is. of the most flimsy 
description, for it will run away from a child if boldly faced, and would as soon face a bantam 
