314 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



The Sub-Family, CICONIN^, or Storks, 



have the bill lengthened, usually straight, and conical, with 

 the sides compressed to the tip, which is acute ; the gonys 

 long and ascending ; the nostrils lateral, pierced in the sub- 

 stance of the bill, with the opening linear ; the wings long 

 and ample; the tail moderate and broad; the tarsi leng- 

 thened, and usually covered with reticulated scales ; the 

 toes moderate, with the anterior toes more or less united at 

 the base ; the hind toe long, elevated, and partly resting on 

 the ground. 



Genus CICONIA, Linn. 



Bill lengthened, straight, and strong, with the culmen 

 keeled and straight towards the tip, which is acute ; the 

 sides compressed, and the gonys long and gradually ascend- 

 ing ; the nostrils lateral and pierced in the substance of the 

 bill, with the opening linear and small ; wings long and 

 ample, with the third and fourth quills equal and longest ; 

 tail short and broad ; tarsi twice the length of the middle 

 toe, and covered with reticulated scales ; toes moderate, 

 with the anterior ones united at the base, especially the 

 outer ones ; the hind toe elevated, and partly resting on the 

 ground. 



595. CiCOnia Alba, Bris. ; Ardea Ciconia, L., PI. 

 Enl., 8G6 ; The White Stork, Gould's B. of Eur., PI. 

 283 ; Great Locust-Bird of Colonists. 



All white, except the wings, which are black ; bill and legs 

 red. Length, 3' 9"; wing, 1' 11"; tail, 1'. 



This Stork is only a migratory visitant to tlie colony, following the 

 flights of locusts, on which it feeds. It is not confined to any locality, 

 but pursues its prey to all parts of the country. 



My valued correspondent, Mrs. Barber, however, informs me that 

 it breeds in the Interior. She writes as follows :— " My authority for 

 saying that the White Locust-Crane build their nests in the Interior 

 is good, or I should not have mentioned it. When my brother 

 Septimus was lion-hunting in the Free State, he saw the hills where 

 great numbers of their old nests were. Mr. William Stubbs (of the 

 Queen's Town district) a great observer of Nature, and ' a good man 

 and true,' is another of my authorities : he told me that he saw their 

 nests upon the low rocky hills near St. John's River. Like the small 

 locust-birds, they always build their nests in the neighbourhood of 

 large swarms of young locusts, so that they may have plenty of food 

 for their young ones ; for young locusts remain long near the spot 

 where they are hatched." 



