WHITE STORK. 119 



pious bird, and was also an emblem on the medals of such 

 Roman princes as merited the title of Pius. 



Some hen's eggs were placed in a Stork's nest, and the 

 others removed. The female Stork, not aware of the change, 

 sat patiently the appointed number of days, till the shells 

 were broken, and the young chickens made their appearance. 

 No sooner were they seen by the old birds, than they testified 

 their surprise by harsh notes and fierce looks, and after a 

 short pause, they jointly fell upon the unfortunate chickens, 

 and pecked them to pieces, as if conscious of the disgrace 

 which might be supposed to attach to a dishonoured nest. 



A French surgeon at Smyrna, wishing to procure a Stork, 

 and finding great difficulty, on account of the extreme 

 veneration in which they are held by the Turks, stole all 

 the eggs out of a nest, and replaced them with those of a 

 hen. In process of time the young chickens came forth, 

 much to the astonishment of the Storks. In a short time 

 the male went off, and was not seen for two or three days, 

 when he returned with an immense crowd of his companions, 

 who all assembled in the place, and formed a circle, taking 

 no notice of the numerous spectators, which so unusual an 

 occurrence had collected. The female was brought forward 

 into the midst of the circle, and after some consultation, the 

 whole flock fell upon her, and tore her to pieces; after which 

 they immediately dispersed, and the nest was entirely abandoned. 



The following, in many respects similar case, occurred on 

 the estate of a gentleman of large landed property near Berlin, 

 and is a valuable corroboratiori of what might, to many, 

 appear unworthy of credit. A pair of Storks built a nest 

 on one of the chimneys of his mansion; having a curiosity 

 to inspect it, the owner climbed up, and found in it one 

 egg, which, being about the size of a G-oose's egg, was replaced 

 by one belonging to that bird. The Storks seemed not to 

 notice the exchange, but no sooner was the egg hatched, 

 than the male bird perceiving the difference, rose from the 

 nest, and flying round it several times with loud screams, 

 disappeared, and was not seen again for three days, during 

 which time the female continued to tend her offspring as 

 usual. Early on the fourth morning, however, the inmates 

 of the house were disturbed by loud and discordant cries 

 in the field fronting the house, where they perceived about 

 five hundred Storks assembled in a dense body, and one 

 standing about twenty yards before the rest, apparently 



