C I C N I A. 



the following account given of one of these larvae 

 described by Dr. Kidd " with an eye to science." 

 " Oh such a beauty ! the Parcae, sweet creatures, 

 the Eumenides, gentle turtle doves, were lovely in 

 comparison. Aspect vicious ; temper ferocious ; eye 

 infernal ; jaws diabolical, stuck on the wrong way 

 like a h'gure-head shipped looking aft; head big; 

 back humped ; the hump adorned with two hooks." 

 Rustictis, in Ent. Mag. The description given ol 

 the jaws is correct, and affords a curious instance ol 

 adaptation of means to an end, of which insects exhibit 

 such numberless examples. One cannot at first but 

 wonder what can be the cause of these jaws being so 

 singularly stuck on the head, being in fact turned 

 upwards, instead of downwards as is the ordinary 

 custom in insects ; but when we consider the habits 

 of the insect in conjunction with the peculiarities of 

 its structure, our wonder ceases ; the insect takes its 

 station at the mouth of a cylindrical burrow, in the 

 hope of seizing upon the stray beetles and flies; now 

 if the jaws were in the ordinary position, the insect 

 would be compelled to throw back its head to a dis- 

 tance beyond its powers, were it to attempt to snap 

 at its prey when creeping over or near the mouth of 

 the burrow ; but as the jaws are placed, it is enabled 

 to effect this without the least difficulty. The two 

 hooks upon the back of the eighth segment of the body 

 are also especially worthy of notice, as it is by their 

 assistance that the insect climbs up and retains its 

 situation at the mouth of its cell. The amusing 

 author above quoted turned up one of these larvae, in 

 order to watch its proceedings. " When first un- 

 earthed he was monstrous sulky, and lay twisted in a 

 kind of half kink, for all the world like a pot-hook ; 

 but he soon found the inconvenience of this, and set 

 to work to make another hole, for which he used his 

 feet and jaws, loosening the sand with his feet, and 

 fetching it out with his jaws," (he might have added 

 that the back of the head being rather concave, is 

 employed as a basket for carrying up the loosened 

 particles) ; " in this way he got down about half an 

 inch, and then adroitly hanging himself to the edge 

 of the hole by the hook (hooks) in his back, he con- 

 tinued his labours in this droll position ; at last he 

 got quite out of sight, and as he did not come up 

 again, I concluded he was taking a nap after his 

 labour, and so I would not again disturb him." The 

 perfect insects are very common in most sandy 

 districts. They abound in the neighbourhood of 

 London, and the circular orifices of their burrows 

 may be seen in all directions, on the sunny sides of 

 gravel pits, &c. 



CICONI A STORK. A genus of birds belonging 

 to the Cultrirostral division of Cuvier's order of 

 Echas&iers, which answers nearly to the Grallce of 

 other naturalists; for the relations see the article 



BlRD. 



The storks are a very interesting race, whether we 

 regard their size or their habits; and in those coun- 

 tries where the rains are periodical, much of the 

 country laid under water for a time, and numerous 

 animals remain left by the subsiding waters, which 

 would taint the air if they remained and were decom- 

 posed there, they perform a very important office in 

 the general economy of nature. They are all more 

 or less migratory, and, with the exception of the colder 

 latitudes, are found on the low grounds in almost 

 every part of the world, though the true storks are 

 mostlv confined to the eastern emit incut. 



The characters are : bill long, straight, stout, even, 

 cylindrical, in the form of a lengthened cone, acute, 

 cutting ridge, rounded, of equal height with the head ; 

 the under mandible slightly bent up; nostrils longi- 

 tudinally clel't in the horny substance, and placed in 

 a groove ; eyes surrounded with a naked space which 

 does not communicate with the beak ; legs long, and 

 furnished with four toes, of which the three anterior 

 are connected at the base by a membrane, and the 

 hind has its first joint resting on the ground ; wings 

 of moderate size. 



Storks live in marshy situations, and feed principally 

 on reptiles, frogs and their spawn, as well as on fish, 

 small mammiferous animals, and birds. In many 

 countries they are a privileged race, being cherished 

 and protected, on account of the noxious animals 

 which they destroy. They mou'.t in autumn, migrate 

 in large bodies, and are easily tamed. The youny of 

 the first year do not very materially differ in appear- 

 ance from the full grown birds ; but they may still be 

 recognised, on their return in spring, by the dull black 

 and white of their plumage. The sexes are not 

 dissimilar in appearance. 



Storks have no voice, properly so called, though 

 when they are irritated, or otherwise strongly excited, 

 they contrive to make a clanking noise, by beating 

 the edges of their mandibles, which are very hard 

 and strong, against each other; when they do this 

 they place the head in rather a singular position ; 

 they recurve it backwards, until it is nearly parallel 

 with the back, and leaning on it. In this position 

 the upper mandible is undermost, and held firm by 

 the posture of the neck, while the under, which is 

 now uppermost, beats much more easily and forcibly 

 against the other than if the bill were in its natural 

 position, as in this case the weight of the mandible 

 aids the stroke, while it acts against it in the other. 

 It does not appear that the muscles which move the 

 under mandible, strong as they are, would be capable 

 of performing this singular sort of cymbal playing, if 

 the weight of the organ were not brought to their 

 assistance ; for as the bird brings its head back to the 

 natural position, the sound gets lower, and when it 

 snaps with the bill in the natural way, no sound is 

 produced. 



Storks are birds of long flight and powerful wing, 

 and they rise high and proceed gracefully upon their 

 long aerial journeys ; on the ground their march is 

 rather slow but stately, their steps being long and 

 measured. As is the case with most birds of the 

 order, they carry the foot forward simultaneously with 

 the leg, and this sort of locomotion is owing to a 

 peculiar system of articulation. To the same mecha- 

 nism the storks are indebted for the faculty of sleeping 

 upon one leg, holding the other bent, and often even 

 suspended rectangularly. The pleasant story told by 

 Boccaccio, of the gentleman and his cook, affords an 

 agreeable illustration of this habit of the stork : a 

 roasted stork had been ordered for dinner, and the 

 egs of this bird being the most substantial as well as 

 he most juicy parts of it, the master was of course 

 anxious to have them for his own use. But there was 

 another claimant : the cook had a sweetheart, and 

 she was so urgent for a leg of this stork that the gal- 

 ant cook was constrained to cut it off and give it 

 ier; when the mutilated stork made its appearance 

 on the table, the master, in a great rage, sent for the 

 uok, and charged him with having purloined the leg. 

 Storks have but one leg, sir,"said the cook with the ut- 



