I02 Allen's naturalist's library. 



that, attracted by the presence of their relatives within the 

 wires, some wild Herons have sought their proximity, and have 

 constituted a heronry on the adjacent trees 1 Mr. Seebohm 

 thus describes the taking of the eggs of this species in Pome- 

 rania : — " We found the nest of the Black Stork on a large oak, 

 but there was no sign of a bird. Our guide assured us that 

 it was occupied, so we concluded that the noise we had made 

 at the Goshawk's empty nest had frightened the bird away. 

 The tree was an old oak at least five feet in diameter for some 

 distance from the ground, and thirty feet without a branch. 

 Gottlieb accordingly ascended a tree close by to reconnoitre ; 

 and just as he got up to the level of the nest, to our great 

 astonishment, off flew a Black Stork, and began to wheel round 

 and round above the tree. She was soon joined by another, 

 so Gottlieb descended and at once began making preparations 

 for the ascent. We had some difficulty in throwing the line 

 over the lowermost branch, which was dead, but very thick ; 

 at last we succeeded, and, having hauled up the rope-ladder, 

 Gottlieb was soon on the branch. The distance to the next 

 branch was too far to reach by sheer climbing, so the rope- 

 ladder had to be got up another stage, and the nest was then 

 soon reached. It was about fifty feet from the ground, on the 

 fork of a large horizontal branch about half-way up the tree. 



Nest. — "It measured from five to six feet in diameter, and 

 was in some places two feet high, and was composed of old 

 dead twigs, black with many years exposure. The top of the 

 nest was almost flat, covered over with a thick layer of green 

 moss, and in a slight depression in the middle lay three young 

 birds, not long hatched, and one egg chipped." The Black 

 Stork, however, does not always breed in trees, for often, in 

 other countries, it nests in clefts or ledges of rocks and on 

 clifl-s. 



Eggs. — Three to five in number; dull white, with scarcely 

 any gloss, coarse in texture and pitted. According to Mr. 

 Seebohm, they are smaller than those of the White Stork, 

 though sometimes difficult to distinguish. On being held to 

 the light, however, the colour inside is found to be green, 

 while those of the White Stork are yellowish-white inside. 

 Axis, 2*45-275 inches; diam., i'85-2-o. 



