On the Migration of the White Stork. 17 



and take to their leo-s. Durino; such flii'-ht thoy arc as 

 difficult to hit as a Button Quail. 



When closely, but quietly, watched they strike the observer 

 as being of a highly mercurial temperament. Never Still, 

 always progressing with short, jerky little runs, hither and 

 thither over the irregular surface, moving rapidly for a few 

 feet, then pausing for a moment perhaps to seize some insect 

 dainty, and again resuming its onward progress. On one 

 occasion I watched a pair playing together ; these repeatedly 

 flew up one after the other into the air, alighting again quickly. 

 Occasionally, but very seldom, one of them perched on a low 

 shrub, or rather clung to its stem, paused thus for an instant, 

 then flew down to rejoin its mate. They remained playing 

 thus, within a radius of about 30 yards from my watch- 

 place, for over an hour; at the expiration of this time they 

 flew together to the stream and dropped into the reeds, 

 whence I could not see them emerge. 



The natives say they make their nest low down in the fork 

 of a small shrub ; I did not, however, meet with any. 



Dr. Gunning in describing the species does not apparently 

 recognise any sexual difference of coloration. It appeared 

 to me, from the mutilated remains of two males which I shot, 

 that the mantle and interscapulars of the male are slightly 

 darker than in the female, whilst the upper tail-coverts are of 

 a more pronounced red-brown. This may be merely slight 

 local variation. The wings of the two males measured 

 respectively 50 and 50*5 mm. 



The only call I heard these birds utter consisted of three 

 sharp chirrups, and this but seldom. 



In the stomachs of all I have examined I have found onlv 

 the remains of ants, with the exception of one male, which, in 

 addition to ants, contained the wings of some small fly. 



V. — Some Remarks on the Migration of the White Stor/c 

 (Ciconia ciconia). By Alwin Haagner, F.Z.S. &c. 



By menus of the practicil experiment of marking Storks 

 with an aluminium ring, now adopted by our ornithological 

 T'OL, VI. 2 



