Boys and birds; or, Miss Truat's mission (1874) (14749461422)

Identifier: boysbirdsormisst00dyer (find matches)
Title: Boys and birds; or, Miss Truat's mission
Year: 1874 (1870s)
Authors: Dyer, Sidney, 1814-1898. (from old catalog)
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Philadelphia, The Bible and publication society
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress



Text Appearing Before Image:
ar as are thebuzzards in the cities of the South. Perhaps the most noted of the stork family arethose known as the Adjutant and the Maraboy,. Thefirst received its name from a disposition to strutabout military parade-grounds. It is a large, un-gainly bird, with an enormous bill, capable, it issaid, of swallowing a full-grown cat, or even a leg ofmutton. It has also a curious appendage attachedto the lower part of the neck which can be distendedinto a large sack. The adjutant is quite as usefulto the inhabitants of the East as are the buzzards tothe cities of the South. It loves carrion, and be-comes a useful scavenger in removing dead carcassesand other offal ; but it has an excellent qualificationwhich our buzzards do not possess: it is a diligentdestroyer of snakes and other vermin, not sparingeven the venomous kinds. When gorged, it willstand for hours alternately on each leg, dozing, thevery embodiment of indolence. The Marabou (Fig. 99) is a similar bird, but 358 BOYS AND BIRDS.
Text Appearing After Image:
~\^ Fig. 99.—Marabou. lacks the pouch attachment on the throat, and isdistinguished for furnishing the valuable maraboufeathers, so highly prized as ornaments. A bird of this class which I now show you iscalled the Sacred Ibis, and was worshiped by the BOYS AND BIRDS. 359 ancient Egyptians as one of their gods. Our owncountry can boast of possessing one of the hand-somest of this variety of birds, the Scarlet Ibis,though it must be confessed that it is rarely seen,and perhaps only when on a short visit from theneighboring West India Islands. The White Ibisis a permanent resident in Florida, and in warmweather some of the species have ventured to payshort visits even as far north as New Jersey. But in our reference to this variety of birds wemust not pass the odd yet attractive Roseate Spoon-bill. Its range is near the Gulf of Mexico, where itinhabits the canebrakes and bayous. The shape ofthe bill gives it a name; that member is more oddthan graceful; but in other respects the bird