BLACK STOEK. 123 



The Black Stork is a migratory bird, wending its way 

 northwards in March, and southwards back again in September 

 or October. 



It gives a preference to secluded places, dwelling in remote, 

 extensive, and impenetrable morasses and forests, interspersed 

 with pools or streams, not only in low but in high situations, 

 and by the banks of rivers, and it does not otherwise appear 

 to be of a particularly wild or shy nature, and is described 

 as being moreover of a mild and peaceful disposition, soon 

 becoming docile in confinement and free from resentment. It 

 frequently rests on one leg. 'It is an old tradition with 

 regard to Storks, that they take care of and nourish their 

 parents when they are too old to take care of themselves, 

 from whence the Greek word 'pelargicos,' signifying the duty 

 of children to take care of their parents; and 'pelargicoi 

 nomoi,' signifying the laws relating to that duty, both derived 

 from the Greek word for a Stork. 'Pelargos,' from 'pelas' 

 black, and 'argos' white, alluding to the prevailing colours 

 of the Stork.' 



The adult bird is not sociable even with those of its own 

 kind, and more than a single pair do not choose the same 

 building place. If more than two are seen together at the 

 time of migration, they will generally be found to be young 

 birds of the year. 



They roost on some raised spot, and in this quiescent state 

 the neck is recurved so that the hinder part of the head 

 rests on the back, and the bill is drawn in closely among 

 the feathers of the front of the neck. 



Fish and shell-fish appear to be its favourite food, but it 

 eats frogs, snakes, and other reptiles, young birds, moles, 

 worms, grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects, in fact almost 

 anything. In searching for the first-named the bill is kept 

 partly open. Mr. Yarrell says, recording the observations 

 made on the one obtained by Montagu, which was kept 

 more than a year, 'When very hungry it crouches, resting 

 the whole length of the legs upon the ground, and suppli- 

 cantly seems to solicit food by nodding the head, flapping 

 its unwieldy pinions, and forcibly blowing the air from the 

 lungs with audible expirations. Whenever it is approached, 

 the expulsion of air, accompanied by repeated nodding of the 

 head, is provoked.' They wade deep into the water in search 

 pf prey, which, when captured, they kill by shaking and 

 beating with the bill before swallowing. They roost on a 



