ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
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THE INDIAN ADJUTANT 
Tlie Adjutant is the antithesis of beauty and 
grace, and this characteristic he shares equally 
with his relations, the jabiru and marabou. 
protection as the humble human habitation can 
afford. 
The white-necked stork is a bird of very wide 
distribution, being found in southern Asia, the 
East Indian islands and tropical Africa. In 
spite of its extensive range, it appears to be 
rather uncommon and its habits are not thor¬ 
oughly well known. It is a handsome bird, its 
bronze-black body being well set off by the 
white neck. In captivity, it is decidedly rare 
and it has the further distinction of being one 
of the most difficult of the family to keep. 
The black-necked stork covers a great part 
of the eastern portion of the eastern hemisphere, 
being found from the Indian and Malay Penin¬ 
sulas to New Guinea and Australia. It is one 
of the largest and finest of the storks, hand¬ 
somely colored in sharp black and white, and 
with clear white eyes of striking intensity. It is 
a hardy and vigorous bird, our single specimen 
having lived in the Zoological Park since 1911. 
Birds are adaptable creatures, as they must 
be to gain a living in these days of keen com¬ 
petition, so it is not strange to find a group of 
storks which are self-elected scavengers. The 
marabou of Africa is the best-known species 
but our only present representative is the Indian 
adjutant. It is a huge, ungainly creature, of 
sinister and vulture-like appearance. Like most 
birds of practically omnivorous feeding habits, 
it is exceedingly long-lived in captivity. 
America has but three species of storks, two 
being found in South America and one ranging 
through portions of both continents. The South 
American maguari stork is a black and white 
bird, closely resembling the European form. 
In fact, but for a certain small matter of the 
disposition of the tail feathers and under tail 
coverts, it is in every way a true stork. It is an 
abundant bird of the pampas and undoubtedly 
is of great importance in keeping in check the 
small rodents that swarm there. 
The largest of the American storks is the 
jabiru. This great, unwieldy bird has a tre¬ 
mendous, upturned beak, somewhat reminiscent 
of that of the adjutant. The beak, head and 
upper portion of the neck are bare of feathers, 
and deep black in color, changing abruptly to 
scarlet toward the base of the neck. The back 
THE MAGUARI STORK 
This South American stork closely resembles the 
well known stork of Europe. 
