648 



dTrfas'iirn nf Natural $ 



punished even with death ; and, like the 

 Ibis, this bird became the object of worship. 

 The Stork is remarkable for its great affection 

 towards its young, but more especially for 

 its attention to its parents in old age. 



The WHITE STORK (Ciconia alba} is 

 upwards of three feet six inches long. The 

 I head, the neck, and the whole of the body 

 are of a pure white ; the scapulars and wings 

 black : the bill, seven inches in length, is of 

 a line red colour ; and the legs and bare part 



1TE STORK, (/UCONti ALBA.) 



of the thighs are also red. The neck is long 

 and arched ; and the feathers near the breast 



The BLACK STORK. (Ciconi'ii nitjra.) This 

 species is not so large as the preceding, being 

 about three feet in length. Its head, neck, 

 the whole of the upper parts of its body, 

 wings, and tail are dusky, with green and 

 purple hues ; the under parts of the breast 

 and belly are pure white ; the beak, the 

 naked skin about the eyes, and throat, are 

 deep red ; as also are the legs. The Black 

 Stork inhabits many parts of Europe, but is 

 not so common as the white. It is said to 

 be a solitary bird, frequenting the most se- 

 questered places to breed : it builds on trees, 

 laying two or three eggs, of a dull white, 

 shaded with green, and slightly marked with 

 brown spots. Like the White Stork, its 

 flesh is wholly unfit for food. 



The AMERICAN STORK. (Ciconia maffu- 

 ari.) There is little difference in size be- 

 tween this species and the common White 

 Stork : the head, neck, back, tail, and all 

 the under parts of the body are of a pure 

 white : the feathers at the base of the neck 

 are long and pendent ; the wings and upper 

 tail-coverts are dusky, glossed with green ; 

 a large naked space on the upper part of the 

 throat, which is capable of dilatation, is of a 

 fine vermillion hue, as is also the skin which 

 surrounds the eyes. The beak is greenish- 

 yellow ; the feet red, and the claws brown. 

 This bird inhabits various parts of America, 

 and is said to be good food. 



STRATIOMID^E. A family of Dipterous 

 insects, which in the perfect state are gene- 



are long and pendulous. The Stork inhabits rally found, in damp situations, upon flowers, 

 various parts of the temperate regions of I sucking their sweets. They are mostly 

 the Old Continent, though it rarely visits 



England. The nest is made of dry sticks, 

 twigs, and aquatic plants, sometimes on large 

 trees, or the summits of high rocky cliffs : 

 this, however, says Bewick, seldom happens, 

 for the Stork prefers the neighbourhood of 

 populous places, where it finds protection 



prettily coloured, and some of the species 

 have beautiful metallic tints. The larvae 

 of some are aquatic, whilst others are found 

 under ground, in dung, or the rotten detritus 

 of wood ; but they all agree in retaining the 

 larva skin in its original form during their 

 existence in the pupa state. 



T<TRAfV PFTRPT 

 - Kt! ' L " 



from the inhabitants; who, for ages, hav 



regarded both the bird and its nest as sacred, 



and commonly place boxes for them on the STREPSIPTEBA. The name given by 



tops of the houses wherein to make their Kirby to an order of insects (consisting only 



nests ; to which they return, after the most 

 distant journeys, and every Stork takes pos- 

 session of his own box. When these are not 

 provided for them, they build on the tops of 



chimneys, steeples, and lofty ruins. The of them reaching a quarter of an inch in 



Stork lays from two to four eggs, the size 

 and colour of those of a goose, and the male 

 and female sit by turns. They are singularly 



of a single family, Stylopidat) which possess 

 rudSmental elytra in the form of linear and 

 spirally twisted scales. The species com- 

 posing this order are all of small size, none 



length. The body 



the thorax larp 



nd 



long and narrow ; 

 singularly developed ; 



mouth with two slender acute jaws, wide 



attentive to their young, both together never apart, and two biarticulate palpi ; anterior 

 quitting the nest, but each by turns bringing \ wings transformed into a pair of short, 

 provisions for them. Their food consists of i slender, contorted appendages ; posterior 

 serpents, lizards, frogs, small fish, &c. In I wings very large, folding longitudinally like 

 their migrations these birds avoid the ex- I a fan. The head is distinct and exposed : it 

 tremes of heat and cold; never being seen j is transverse, with the eyes very large, lateral, 

 in summer farther north than Russia or i and prominent, being placed upon the con- 

 Sweden, nor in winter farther south than j traeted sides of the head, which gives them 

 Egypt, where it is constantly seen during | the appearance of being inserted upon short 

 that season. Before they take their depar- ; footstalks. The number of hexagonal facets 



ture they assemble in large flocks, making 

 a clattering noise, and appearing to be all 

 bustle and consultation ; but when they are 

 actually about to leave, the whole body be- 

 come silent, and move at once, generally in 

 the night. The flesh of this bird is very 

 rank, and not fit for food. 



is small, and they are singularly separated 

 from each other by a septum or partition, 

 which, being elevated above the lenses, gives 

 the eyes a cellular surface. In Elenchus 

 tenuicornis Mr. Templetoii could detect only 

 about fifteen lenses in the eyes, which are 

 quite sessile. . The antennas are of singular 



