STONE-CURLEW— STORK 919 



STONE-CURLEW, (Edicnemus scolopax or crepitans (Curlew, 

 p. 129) ; STONEHATCH, a name for the Ringed Plover, ^gialitis 

 hiaticola, given to it in places where, breeding on the turf, it paves 

 the hollow it makes for its nest with small stones before laying its 

 eggs (c/. Salmon, Mag. N. H. ix p. 521, Stevenson, B. Norf. ii. p. 

 85) ; STONERUNNER, another name for the same bird, but given 

 to it at its seaside resorts. 



STORK (A.-S. Store ; Germ. Storch), the Ciconia alba of ornith- 

 ology, and, through picture and story, one of the best known of 

 foreign birds ; for, though often visiting Britain, it has never been 

 a native or even inhabitant of the country. It is a summer-visitant 

 to most parts of the European Continent, — the chief exceptions 

 being France (where the native race has been destroyed), Italy and 

 Russia, — breeding from southern Sweden to Spain and Greece, and 

 being especially common in Poland.^ It reappears again in Asia 

 Minor, the Caucasus, Persia and Turkestan, but further to the 

 eastward it is replaced by a larger, black-billed species, C. ioyciana, 

 which reaches Japan. Though occasionally using trees (as was 

 most likely its original habit) for the pvu-pose, the Stork most 

 generally places its nest on buildings,^ a fact familiar to travellers 

 in Denmark, Holland and Germany, and it is nearly everywhere a 

 cherished guest, popular belief ascribing good luck to the house to 

 which it attaches itself.^ Its food, consisting mainly of frogs and 

 insects, is gathered in the neighbouring pastures, across which it 

 may be seen stalking with an air of quiet dignity ; but in the 

 season of love it indulges in gestures which can only be called 

 grotesque, — leaping from the ground with extended wings in a kind 

 of dance, and, absolutely voiceless as it is, making a loud noise by 

 the clattering of its mandibles. At other times it may be seen 

 gravely resting on one leg on an elevated place, thence to sweep 

 aloft and circle with a slow and majestic flight. Apart from its 

 considerable size, — and a Stork stands more than three feet in 

 height, — its contrasted plumage of pure white and deep black, with 

 its bright red bill and legs, makes it a conspicuous and beautiful 

 object, especially when seen against the fresh green grass of a 

 luxuriant meadow. In winter the Storks of Europe retire to 



^ In that country its numbers are said to have greatly diminished since about 

 1858, when a disastrous spring-storm overtook the homeward-bound birds. The 

 like is to be said of Holland since about 1860. 



^ To consult its convenience a stage of some kind, often a cart-wheel, is in 

 many places set up and generally occupied by successive generations of tenants. 



'^ Its common Dutch name is Ooijevaar, which can be traced through many 

 forms (Koolmann, Worterb. d. Ostfries. Sprache, i, p. 8 stibvoce " Adebar ") to the 

 old word Odeboro ("the bringer of good"). In countries where the Stork is 

 abundant it enters largely into popular tales, songs and proverbs, and from the 

 days of iEsop has been a favourite in fable. 



