232 Storks £j? Cranes 



With the fine sweep of their wings, they would 

 mount up to a great height in a very few minutes, 

 and many a day did I think I had seen the last 

 of them. 



Sometimes when there was a light breeze, they 

 would sail far above the house, with outstretched 

 and apparently unmoving pinions, looking no larger 

 than rooks. 



And away they would go in ever widening 

 circles, until they were at times hidden by the 

 clouds. I have watched them through field-glasses, 

 soaring for long distances from home, yet they never 

 settled anywhere but on the house itself, or on the 

 lawn, or the part of the park immediately fronting 

 the house. 



To a pond in the park they were very fond 

 of going ; but if I whistled to them at their supper 

 time, one after the other, they would rise up to 

 come flapping home. 



In 1899 I bought some silver rings, on which 

 I had the year and the name of their English 

 home engraved, and slipped one on to an ankle 

 of each bird. 



This was not easy, for the ring must not be 

 too large for the stork's leg, and yet large enough 

 to go over his foot. 



Of course one might have them made with a 

 snap which would close for ever, when shut to ; 

 but it would be a more costly business. 



So I managed, by putting vaseline on the birds' 

 feet, and thus slipped the rings over. 



