: ; ee ee oa ave st extensive. In America 1
ably China; its range, therefore, is most extensy erica it

e west and the North Pacific on the east forming barriers which

portion of India, Amoorland, and prob

has never been seen, the Atlantic sea on th

it never crosses.

“©The Stork,” says Mr. Bennet
countries almost to veneration, partly on
1g impurities from the
s of its habits, and the moral virtues with w
Stork was regarded with a rev
alent in many parts of Africa and the East; and
ems to mingle in the minds of the common

h peculiar favour, amounting in some
forms in the destruction of noxious
ount of its mildness of

t, “has in all ages been regarded wit
account of the services it per

animals and in removit surface of the earth, and partly on ace |
temper, the harmlessnes hich the imagination has delighted to
invest it. Among the ancient Egyptians the
same feeling is still prev
something like superstition se
strong conviction of its utility

erence inferior only to that which

was paid to the sacred Ibis. The
even in Switzerland and Holland

people with the hospitable kindness which a ;
this favourite bird . . . In numerous parts of Holland its nest, built on the chimney-top, remains undisturbed

and the owners constantly return with unerring sagacity to the same spot. The
dwelling, and the attachment which they testify
They generally lay from two to four eggs, of a
but not so broad. The incubation lasts for a
e female in search of food. When the young
m with the closest anxiety. As

disposes them to evince towards

for many successive years,
joy which they manifest on
towards their benevolent hosts are familiar to every one.
dingy yellowish white, rather longer than those of a goose,
he task during the absence of th
birds are hatched they are carefully fed by their parents, who watch over the
soon as they are capable of flying, the parents exercise them in it by degrees, carrying them at first on their
own wings, and then conducting them in short flights around their nest. In repose, the Stork is commonly
seen standing upon one leg, with its long neck bent backwards and its head resting on its shoulder. Its
motions are slow and measured, the length of its steps corresponding with that of its legs. In flight its
head and neck are directed straight forwards, and its legs extended backwards, an awkward and apparently
constrained position, but that which ‘s best calculated for enabling it to cleave the air with rapidity. When
migrating, the Storks appear gradually to assemble in one spot from the whole of the surrounding district
to the number of many hundreds, making, when they meet, that peculiar clattering with their beaks which
As soon as their number is completed, the entire body mount
sight of in the loftiness of their flight.”

again taking possession of their

month, the male sharing in t

appears to serve them in the place of voice.
at once into the air without noise or confusion, and are speedily lost
—Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society delineated, vol. 1.
«T shall never forget,” says Mr. Gurney, Jun., ‘the interest I took in a Stork’s nest at Medea, in Algeria.
It was placed in one of two chimneys at the gable end of by no means the largest house in the town. I
watched it for hours. The old birds were constantly repairing it and moving about the sticks ; and although
it was small, both birds found room to stand in it at the same time. The bird leaves the nest with a spring,
and gets quite clear before it expands its huge wings, but does not draw in its Jegs, which hang down
awkwardly at first and then stream out behind. When it alights the legs are cast upwards and sideways.”
Speaking of the bird as observed in Palestine, the Rev. H. B. Tristram says :—‘* The White Stork is a
regular though only a passing migrant. During the whole of April it covers the land, suddenly appearing
in the south, and moving northwards a few miles a day. Thus we were told by some travellers who came up
to Gennesaret that the whole country about Samaria was covered with Storks. Two days afterwards they
overspread our neighbourhood, not close together, but scattered over hill and valley, plain and marsh alike,
steadily quartering the ground, seldom near one another, but generally about a hundred yards apart, picking
up snakes, lizards, frogs, or fish, according to the locality. Just after this [had occasisn to make a six days’
journey to the south-east ; the Storks were everywhere, among rocks on the hills, in olive-yards, sandy
plains, on the dunghills of villages, on the top of Nebo. They remained apparently until they had cleared off
the reptilian harvest, and departed for the north as suddenly as they came. A very few pairs here and there
remain to breed, notably among the ruins of Gerash and Ammon, perbaps also at Cesarea. They showed
great confidence in man, and are never molested by the natives.”
| aS Pe pee sates Is oa smaller ne the male 5 and the young,
To show the difficulty of obtaining a ‘a ated bi = ee ae of ci ee
solicited my Continental correspondents . Bian m ; i ee ae ee that ee ;
friend Professor Kaup, of Darmstadt, knowing that I ete aoe Re i he 0 a
me a specimen, but also a diawing: from ie = eas : it purely for a scent’ aa oe
colouring of the soft parts—for oven act of ee 1 ee fee ca a “—_-
The upper part of an adult, and the young, ar me ee ae = ee
, young, are represented of the size of life.