STORKS. 
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bronchial tubes are incomplete behind, as in the white-bellied stork, but in 
the third they are complete like those of the true storks, although narrower at 
the back than in front. In the American jabiru the head and neck are bare and 
black, and the remainder white; but in the African species the feathered head 
and neck, the wing-coverts, the shoulders and the tail are black, with a metallic 
lustre, while the rest of the plumage, inclusive of the quills, is dazzling white. 
In the latter species the iris is yellow, and the beak red at the base, then black 
for a short distance, and blood-red in its anterior half, while the fleshy saddle on 
the upper-part of its base is variously coloured. The legs are mostly greyish 
brown, but the toes are carmine-red. In length the male measures upwards of 
59 inches. The saddle-billed jabiru is described as being one of the handsomest of 
all the storks when in its native wilds, being especially beautiful during flight, when 
the white quills of the wings stand out in marked contrast to their black coverts. 
It is found on both the White and Blue Nile to the southward of the 14tli parallel 
of north latitude, and thence through the Sudan, but it also occurs on both the 
east and west coasts. Living in pairs, it frequents sandbanks on the rivers, as 
well as the margins of lakes and swamps; but it is so shy, and at the same time 
generally so rare, that but little is known of its habits. 
Adjutant or The largest and at the same time by far the ugliest of the 
Marabou stork, storks, are the adjutants or marabous of the Oriental region and 
Africa, which apparently derive their military title from their measured walk. 
These ungainly birds are primarily distinguished by the presence of a large, 
naked, pendulous pouch on the front of the throat, which may measure as 
much as 16 inches, and has no connection with the gullet, although probably 
communicating with the respiratory organs. They are further characterised 
by the large body, thick and naked neck, by the head being either bare or 
thinly clad with down, and by the enormous size of the beak, which is very 
thick, four-sided, and somewhat wedge-shaped, with a sharp point. The legs 
are of great length. The whole plumage is rough and untidy-looking; the large 
and rounded wings have the fourth quill the longest; while the moderately 
long tail is characterised by the great development of its under-coverts, which 
form the well-known marabou or comercolly feathers. Our illustration represents 
the African species (Leptoptilus crumeniferus), known to the Arabs as abu scin 
(father of the leather bottle 1 ), in which the head is reddish flesh-coloured, 
sprinkled over with short hair-like feathers. The plumage of the back is a dark 
metallic green, while that of the neck and under-parts is pure white; the quills 
of the wing and tail being black and lustreless, and the greater wing-coverts 
having their outer webs bordered with white. The iris is brown, the beak a dirty 
whitish yellow, and the leg and foot black, generally with a superficial coating of 
white. The total length of a male is about 63 inches. In India and the Burmese 
countries the genus is represented by the great Indian adjutant ( L. dubius), of 
which there is a larger and a smaller race; while the Javan adjutant ( L. javanicus ) 
is a smaller Oriental species. Remains of extinct adjutants occur in the Pliocene 
rocks of the north of India, and probably in the Miocene deposits of France. 
1 This is the derivation given by Brehm; but Sir S. Baker says that the name is abu seen, or father of 
ithe beak. 
