THE CHARACTER OF THE STORK. 329 
The lady began by betraying the confidence of him with whom she 
had united her destinies; his presence had evidently become in- 
supportable to her, and she finally killed him with the help of her 
accomplice. 
These errors of the female render the high morality of the male bird 
more conspicuous. Witness the following story, related by Neander:— 
A number of storks had taken up their abode in the market- 
town of Tangen, in Bavaria. Perfect harmony reigned in every 
family, and their lives were passed in happiness and freedom. 
Unfortunately, a female, who had been up to that time the most 
correct of matrons, allowed herself to be led away by the idle 
gallantries of a young male; this took place in the absence of her 
mate, who was engaged in seeking food for his family. ‘This guilty 
fiatson continued until one day the male, returning unexpectedly, 
became convinced of her infidelity. He did not, however, venture to 
take the law into his own hands. He arraigned her before a tribunal 
composed of all the birds at the time assembled for their autumnal 
migration. Having stated the facts, he demanded the severest 
judgment of the court against the accused. The unfaithful spouse 
was condemned to death by unanimous consent, and was immedi- 
ately torn in pieces. As to the male bird, although now avenged, 
he departed to bury his sorrows in the recesses of some desert, and 
the place which once knew him afterwards knew him no more. 
The Storks of the Levant manifest a still greater susceptibility. 
The inhabitants of Smyrna, who know how far the males carry their 
feelings of conjugal honour, make these birds the subject of rather a 
cruel amusement by placing Hens’ eggs in the nest of the Stork. At 
sight of this unusual production the male allows a terrible suspicion 
to gnaw his heart. By the help of imagination, he persuades himself 
that his mate has betrayed him; and in spite of the protestations of 
the poor thing, he delivers her over to the other storks, who are 
attracted by his cries, and the innocent and unfortunate victim is 
pecked to pieces, 
Besides the numerous virtues that we have just stated—parental 
love, conjugal fidelity, chastity, and gratitude—the ancients attributed 
to them filial piety. They believed that these birds maintained and 
nourished their parents in their old age, and devoted themselves to 
alleviating the trials of the last years of their lives with the most 
_ tender care. Hence was derived the name of the “ Pelargonian 
Law” (from the Greek medapyds, a crane), the name given by the 
Greeks to the law which compelled children to maintain their 
parents when old age had rendered them incapable of working. 
M * 
