(MAGUARI STORK.)
Ciconia maguari, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 509 (Tucuman); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 126; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 189 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 399 (Centr. Patagonia); Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 153 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 271 (Entrerios). Euxenura maguari, Baird, Brew., et Ridgw. Water-B. N. A. i. p. 77.
Description.—Plumage white; wings and upper tail-coverts black; naked lores and feet red; bill horn-colour, yellowish at the base: whole length 40·0 inches, wing 20·0, tail 8·0. Female similar.
Hab. South America.
The Maguari Stork is a well-known bird on the pampas, breeding in the marshes, and also wading for its food in the shallow water; but it is not nearly so aquatic in its habits as the Jabiru, and after the breeding-season is over it is seen everywhere on the dry plains. Here these birds prey on mice, snakes, and toads, but also frequently visit the cultivated fields in quest of food. When mice or frogs are exceptionally abundant on the pampas, the Storks often appear in large numbers, and at such times I have seen them congregating by hundreds in the evening beside the water; but in the daytime they scatter over the feeding-ground, where they are seen stalking along, intent on their prey, with majestic Crane-like strides. To rise they give three long jumps before committing themselves to the air, and like all heavy fliers make a loud noise with their wings. They are never seen to alight on trees, like the Jabiru, and are absolutely dumb, unless the clattering they make with the bill when angry can be called a language.
The laying-time is about the middle of August, and the nest is built up amongst the rushes, rising about two feet above the surface of the water. The eggs are rather long, three or four in number, and of a chalky white.
Mr. Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, furnishes the following lively account of a young Maguari:—“One, which I took on October 5, was about the size of a domestic fowl, in down, and, with the exception of the white tail, entirely black. It soon became very tame, and used to wander all over the premises, looking for food, or watching any work that was going on. Rats were swallowed whole; and the way it would gulp down a pound or two of raw meat would have horrified an English housekeeper. Snakes it seized by the nape of the neck, and passed them transversely through its bill by a succession of rapid and powerful nips, repeating the operation two or three times before being satisfied that life was totally extinct. It used often to do the same thing with dry sticks (in order not to forget the way, I suppose); while on one occasion it swallowed a piece of hard cowhide, a foot long, and consequently could not bend its neck for twenty-four hours after—till the hide softened, in fact. The story also went that ‘Byles, the lawyer’ (as he was called), mistook the tail of one of the pet lambs for a snake, and actually had it down his throat, but was ‘brought up’ by the body of the lamb! Byles inspired a wholesome respect in all the dogs and cats, but was very peaceable as a rule. One of our men had played some trick on him, however; and the result was that Byles generally went for him on every possible occasion, his long legs covering the ground like those of an Ostrich, while he produced a demoniacal row with his bill. It was amusing to see his victim dodging him all over the place, or sometimes, in desperation, turning on him with a stick; but Byles evaded every blow by jumping eight feet into the air, coming down on the other side of his enemy and there repeating his war dance; while he always threatened (though his threats were never fulfilled) to make personal and pointed remarks with his formidable bill.
“Shortly after his capture feathers began to appear; and the following is a description of the bird at the age of about two months:—Tail-feathers white, remainder of plumage glossy green-black; bill black; legs and feet grey. Spots and patches of white began to appear on head, back, and wings; these gradually extended, until, by the end of May, the adult plumage was all acquired. Then my interest in Byles ceased, and latterly he strayed away to his native swamps.”