2 7 8 



A VES ORDER ARDEIFORMES. 



and reptiles. They nest in low bushes, the eggs being two In number, 

 rounded and spotted, resembling those of Cranes and Rails. 



Somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Seriamas and the Cranes and 



Kails must apparently be placed some extraordinary forms of bird-life which 



have been discovered in the Miocene deposits of Patagonia, 



The Extinct Birds and described by Dr. Ameghino under the order 



of Patagonia Stereornithes. These peculiar creatures are only known 



(Stereormthes). from their fossil remains> and they were at first supposed 



to be Struthious Birds, and akin to the Rheas. Further 



information is required concerning them, but at the present time, my 



colleague, Mr. Andrews, considers that they are totally different from any 



ostrich-like birds, and were probably gigantic fore-runners of the Seriama 



and the Crane-like birds of modern times. 



All the members of this order have a bridged or desmognathous palate, and 



the nestlings are hatched helpless, and are fed in the 



The Heron, nest by the parent birds for a considerable period. Thus 



Order they differ from the Cranes, with which they were 



Ardeiformes. associated in the older classifications. The Heron-like 



birds may be divided into three great groups, viz., the 



Storks (Ciconiidce), the Spoonbills and Ibises, and the Herons. 



Although in outward appearance Storks and Herons look very much alike, 



there are several characters which render them easily separable. For 



instance, no Stork has the claw of the third or middle 



The Storks. toe pectinated ; that is, furnished with a comb-like 



Family Ciconiida. process, as is the case with all Herons. Again, the hind 



toe is not on a level with the other toes, but is elevated 



above it; and the f.urcula, or "merry-thought," bone shows no median 



projection in the angle, as is seen in the true Herons. There are other 



anatomical and osteological characters which 



can be adduced for the separation of the 



Storks from the Herons which it is not 



necessary to enumerate in detail. 



In this Order are included the true Storks 

 (Ciconiidce), the Marabous, or Adjutants 

 (Leptoptilus\ the Open -bills (Anastomus), 

 and the Wood- Storks or Wood-Ibises (Tan- 

 talus), the latter being 

 The Storks. generally admitted as a 

 Sub-order distinct sub-family, Tan- 



Ciconii. talince. All these birds 



have no "powder-down" 

 patches on the sides of the rump, thus differ- 

 ing from the true Herons and the Hammer- 

 heads (Scopi) and the Shoe-billed Storks 

 (Balcenicipitidoe). 



The best-known representative of the 

 Ciconii is the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) 

 of Europe, a bird which occasionally visits 

 England, but is to be more easily studied on 

 the opposite shores of the Continent. It is always interesting to take a 

 country walk in Holland in the spring and see the Storks' ne^ts, which are 

 plentifully distributed in the Dutch gardens, where the birds are encouraged 



Fig. 40. THE WHITS STORK 

 (Ciconia ciconia). 



