220 CICONIID^. 



It does not appear that the White Stork has ever been 

 more than an irregular visitor to the British Islands. So 

 long ago as 1544 Dr. William Turner, writing at Cologne, 

 expresses his surprise that a bird so common in Germany 

 should be unknown in Britain, except in captivity. By 

 Merrett, Willughby, and Ray, it was considered a very rare 

 visitor to this country ; but Sir Thomas Browne, writing at 

 Norwich, says, ** I have seen this bird in the fens, and 

 some have been shot in the marshes between this and 

 Yarmouth." Wallis, in his ' Natural History of North- 

 umberland ' (i. p. 336), mentions one which was killed near 

 Chollerford Bridge, in the year 1766, and its skin being 

 nailed up against the wall of the inn at that place, drew 

 crowds of people from the adjacent parts to view it. During 

 the present century, however, and probably in consequence 

 of the increased attention given to birds, a good many 

 occurrences have been recorded. 



As might be expected, owing to the proximity of Holland, 

 where the White Stork is a regular and protected visitor, 

 this species has been more frequently observed in the eastern 

 counties than in other parts of our island. Messrs. Gurney 

 and Fisher point out that one or two of these birds are 

 generally killed in Norfolk every year, usually during the 

 spring months ; and Mr. H. Stevenson has enumerated 

 twenty-three occurrences. An adult female, shot about the 

 17th May, 1861, at Woodbastwick, contained an egg quite 

 ready for exclusion, which was only slightly cracked on one 

 side by the fall of the bird. Several examples have also been 

 obtained or observed in Suffolk and Essex. Respecting 

 Lincolnshire, Mr. Cordeaux writes to the Editor, that in 

 an old map, mdcxxvi, of the Isle of Axholme, before the 

 drainage by Vermuyden, ' Stork-carres ' are marked between 

 Haxey and Wroote, on the east bank of the river Idle 

 (Idille) ; but it must be remembered that the term ' Stork ' 

 is not unfrequently applied to the Heron. In the Humber 

 district Mr. Cordeaux has only recorded a single adult bird, 

 shot near Withernsea in September 1869 ; and Mr. W. E. 

 Clarke mentions seven other occurrences in various parts of 



