WHALE-HEADED STORK. 303 



whitish grey. The iris is mostly brown, the beak brown with a yellow border to 

 the lower mandible, and the leg and foot yellowish. 



The savaku, as the bird is called by the natives of South America, frequents 

 the thick woods bordering the Brazilian rivers, where it may be seen either solitary, 

 or in pairs during the breeding-season. These birds are more numerous in the 

 interior than near the coast ; and may be observed either in the low bushes on the 

 banks or perched on boughs high above the river. Their food consists of various 

 aquatic creatures, especially worms ; but from the conformation of their beak, 

 which is probably used for grovelling in the mud, it is doubtful if these birds can 

 catch fish. Practically nothing has been ascertained as to their breeding-habits, 

 although it is known that the eggs are uniformly white, and very similar in general 

 appearance to those of a heron. 



THE WHALE-HEADED STORK. 

 Family BALJZNlClPlTlDjE. 



The extraordinary-looking and gigantic bird known as the whale-headed, or 

 shoe-billed stork (Balceniceps rex), which is peculiar to certain parts of Africa, 

 forms the sole representative of a distinct family, whose nearest relationship, 

 according to Mr. Beddard, appears to be with the herons, and from which family 

 it may be a highly modified offshoot. 1 While agreeing with the herons in the 

 presence of powder-down patches on the rump, and the absence of bare tracts on 

 the sides of the neck, as well as in several internal features, the whale-head is 

 distinguished by the absence of pectination on the claw of the third toe, and 

 likewise in the V-shaped furcula having no process jutting forth into the angle. 

 Apart from these morphological features, the large size of these birds, and their 

 extraordinary beaks, render them perfectly distinguishable at a glance from all 

 their allies. The broad and depressed beak, unlike that of the boat-billed heron, 

 is concave in profile, with a strong ridge down the middle of the upper mandible, 

 the tip produced into a bold hook, and the cutting-edges highly curved; the 

 minute nostrils being situated at its base and not placed in a groove. The 

 lower mandible is covered with a soft, leathery skin for the greater part of its 

 length, although horny at the tip. The legs are very long, and naked for a 

 considerable distance above the ankle; and the elongated toes are not webbed. 

 The long and broad wings have the third and fourth quills the longest ; the tail is 

 of moderate length, with twelve feathers ; and there is a short bushy crest at the 

 back of the head. The prevailing ground-colour of the plumage is a fine ashy 

 grey, the larger body-feathers being bordered with lighter grey, and the wing and 

 tail-feathers greyish black. The iris is yellow, the beak horn-colour, and the leg 

 and foot black. In size this bird comes between the white and the marabou stork, 

 although much nearer to the latter than the former. 



Known to the Arabs as dbu markub (father of a shoe), this giant bird is 

 restricted to the White Nile and its affluents, and although everywhere rare is 

 most numerous in the districts of Kitsh and Nuer in Northern Equatoria, where 



1 This relationship is not admitted by Professor Newton. 



