324 
THE GIGANTIC CRANE. 
why the gentleman permitted such, in some respects, trouble- 
some birds to build on his chimney-top unmolested. 
We suspect that constancy and fidelity amongst birds 
exist to a greater degree than we are aware of; — whatever 
testimony can be collected on the subject certainly tends 
to prove it Thus, a pair of Magpies had built their nest in 
a tree, where they were constantly under the observation of 
a person whose house was near at hand. One morning 
early, during the absence of the male, the female flew from 
her tree to a field hard by, where she was soon joined by a 
male, who paid her great attention. During this interview 
the mate returned to the nest, and on seeing his partner 
hopping about familiarly with another, he immediately darted 
upon the guilty parties, and attacking them with the greatest 
anger and fierceness, put them to flight, and followed them : 
whether he killed his faithless partner or not was unknown, 
but she never returned ; and the deserted widower, after occa- 
sionally visiting his nest for a day or two, finally quitted, 
and disappeared altogether. It is not improbable, indeed, 
that similar suspicions or prejudices may have been the cause 
of some of the mysterious meetings already mentioned, in 
which individuals were put to death. 
Of this tribe, there is one which, from its extraordinary 
size, shape, and appearance, deserves to be particularly 
noticed. It is called the Gigantic Crane (. Ardea argila), a 
native of the East Indies, and was the first of birds to meet 
the eye of Bishop Heber, on his landing in India. “ In the 
morning, as the day broke,” says he, “ we were much struck 
by the singular spectacle before us. Besides the usual 
apparatus of a place of arms, the walks, roofs, and ramparts 
of the fort swarmed with gigantic birds, the Hurgila, larger 
than the largest Turkey, and twice as tall as the Heron, 
which, in some respects, they much resemble, except that 
they have a large blue and red pouch under the lower bill, 
in which, we were told, they keep such food as they cannot j 
eat at the moment. These birds share with the jackalls, 
who enter the fort through the drains, the post of scavenger ; j 
but unlike them, instead of shunning mankind day and 
