424 



THE BIRDS 



attract a female to their nesting grounds. Bachelor males will keep up the 

 call throughout the summer. 



The Storks. Strange to say, one of the best-known birds does not 

 even live in the United States, although a close relative, the wood ibis, 

 is found along our shores. The storks are abundant in the coastal 

 regions of Europe and have a habit of building their nests on the tops of 

 houses. In many countries this is considered an omen of good luck and 

 they are never driven away. Just how they became an accessory in ma- 



Photo by Winchester 



Fig. 27.15. Emperor Penguins from the Antarctic. These unusual birds live in a 

 land of perpetual ice and snow. The female lays a single egg and incubates it during 

 the antarctic winter when the temperature averages 50 degrees below zero. These 

 specimens were collected by Admiral Richard Byrd and now form a habitat group in 



the Chicago Natural History Museum. 



ternity is not clearly known, but a stork serenely perched on one leg on 

 top of a chimney after a baby was born would offer an easy answer to 

 embarrassing questions from the other children. The storks are mem- 

 bers of the wading birds whose long legs make it possible for them to 

 wade in shallow water picking out fish and other water animals with 

 their long bills. 



Archaeornis. This is a prehistoric bird whose characteristics give us 

 an insight into the origin of birds. Delicately preserved remains of this 

 bird have been found in Jurassic deposits near Solenhofen, Germany. 



