THE BLACK STORK 175 
FAMILY CICONIIDA 
THE WHITE STORK 
CICONIA ALBA 
General plumage white ; scapulars and wings black ; bill and feet red ; orbits 
naked, black; irides brown. Young birds have the wings tinged with 
brown and the beak reddish black. Length three feet six inches. Eggs 
white tinged with ochre, 
Sir THOMAS BROWNE says, in his Account of Birds found in Norfolk : 
‘The Ciconia, or Stork, I have seen in the fens; and some have 
been shot in the marshes between this [Norwich] and Yarmouth.’ 
His contemporary, Willughby, says :—‘ The Stork is rarely seen in 
England ; never, in fact, but when driven hither by the wind or 
some accident. I have received from Dr. Thomas Browne, the 
eminent naturalist, a figure drawn to the life, and a short descrip- 
tion of one which was captured in Norfolk.’ Yarrell records 
instances of a few others which have been killed, at distant inter- 
vals, in various parts of England; but the Stork is so rare a visitor 
with us, that I have no scruple in referring my readers, for a full 
account of the habits of so interesting a bird, to some more com- 
prehensive work on the subject. The White Stork was, over 350 
years ago, only an irregular visitor to Great Britain. 
THE BLACK STORK 
CICONIA NIGRA 
Upper plumage black, with green and purple reflections ; under white; bill 
and orbits red; irides brown; feet deep red. In young birds the bill, 
orbits, and feet, are olive green; and the upper plumage is tinged with 
rust-brown. Length nearly three feet. Eggs dull white, tinged with 
green, and sometimes sparingly spotted with brown. 
A STILL rarer visitor in Great Britain than the White Stork, from 
which it differs quite as much in habit as it does in colour; for 
whereas the one is eminently sociable with birds of its own kind, and 
devoted in its attachment to human dwellings, the other is a solitary 
bird, shy and wary, avoiding at all times the sight of men and 
their habitations. It is a rare bird in most countries of Europe, 
but is common in several parts of Asia and the whole of the known 
regions of Africa. It builds a large nest in a lofty tree, and lays 
from two to five eggs. 
