NON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 197 



Family CICONIID/E. Genus CicoNiA. 



BLACK STORK. 



CicoNiA NIGRA {Li?mce2is). 



(British : Very rare abnormal spring and autumn migrant.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, April. 



Breeding area: Southern Pal?earctic region. The 

 Black Stork breeds sparingly in Southern Sweden, much 

 more commonly in Hanover, Pomerania, and Prussia 

 (Herr E. Hartert states that it is nowhere as abundant 

 in Germany as in East Prussia). It also breeds in 

 Poland, the valley of the Danube, Spain, Central and 

 Southern Russia, Turkey, and the Caucasus. South- 

 wards it is said to breed in Palestine, and does so in 

 Persia, Turkestan, and Southern Siberia, reaching as 

 high as lat. 55° in the valley of the Obb ; eastwards 

 through the Baikal area, the Amoor valley, and Northern 

 China. South of the Mediterranean I can find no 

 definite evidence of its breeding anywhere on the African 

 continent. 



Breeding habits : The Black Stork is a regular 

 migrant, arriving in its more southerly summer haunts 

 in March, but nearly a month later in the north. It is 

 a much wilder and more wary bird than the White 

 Stork, and never nests in towns or much-frequented 

 places, at least in Europe. It is also solitary in its 

 habits, each pair keeping to one particular locality, 

 although an instance is on record where two pairs bred 

 in company. The favourite breeding haunts of the 

 Black Stork are large little-frequented forests, especially 

 such as are swampy or near to marshes in which the 

 bird can find food. This Stork also pairs for life, re- 

 turning to the same nest year after year. The nest is 



