16& 



THE WHITE STORK. 



Ciconia alba. ^ 



PLATE VII. 



Ciconia alba, Brisson. Ardea alba, Linn. Cicogne blanche, 

 Temm. Common Stork, White Stork of British authors. 



IN Europe, the Stork is a migratory bird, visiting it 

 only during the season of incubation, seen upon our 

 shores as a straggler, and in modern days, much 

 more rarely than it even anciently seems to have 

 occurred. In France, Holland, and Germany, the 

 Stork is common during the breeding season, and 

 being in these countries protected, it mixes fami- 

 liarly with the noise and bustle of population, and 

 incubates on the tops of the chimneys, on spires, 

 or other elevated structures of the towns. Artifi- 

 cial flat-topped erections are often put up for its use 

 and convenience, and, in some parts, penalties are 

 levied on its molestation. In no work, to which 

 we have access, have we seen the natural breeding- 

 places mentioned, for although they may in Europe 

 congregate about towns and villages, we have little 

 doubt that colonies will elsewhere exist, inhabiting, 

 at the time of breeding, elevated rocks, or dead or 



