THE BLACK STORK 175 



FAMILY CICONIID.E 



THE WHITE STORK 



cic6nia alba 



General plumage white ; scapulars and wings black ; bill and feet red ; orbits 

 naked, black ; irides brown. Young birds have the wings tinged with 

 brown and the beak reddish black. Length three feet six inches. Eggs 

 white tinged with ochre. 



Sir Thomas Browne says, in his Account of Birds found in Norfolk ' 

 ' The Ciconia, or Stork, I have seen in the fens ; and some have 

 been shot in the marshes between this [Norwich] and Yarmouth.' 

 His contemporary, Willughby, says : — ' The Stork is rarely seen in 

 England ; never, in fact, but when driven hither by the wind or 

 some accident. I have received from Dr. Thomas Browne, the 

 eminent naturalist, a figure drawn to the life, and a short descrip- 

 tion of one which was captured in Norfolk.' Yarrell records 

 instances of a few others which have been killed, at distant inter- 

 vals, in various parts of England ; but the Stork is so rare a visitor 

 with us, that I have no scruple in referring my readers, for a full 

 account of the habits of so interesting a bird, to some more com- 

 prehensive work on the subject. The White Stork was, over 350 

 years ago, only an irregular visitor to Great Britain. 



THE BLACK STORK 



CICONIA NIGRA 



Upper plumage black, with green and purple reflections ; under white ; bill 

 and orbits red ; irides brown ; feet deep red. In young birds the bill, 

 orbits, and feet, are olive green ; and the upper plumage is tinged with 

 rust-brown. Length nearly three feet. Eggs dull white, tinged with 

 green, and sometimes sparingly spotted with brown. 



A still rarer visitor in Great Britain than the White Stork, from 

 which it differs quite as much in habit as it does in colour ; for 

 whereas the one is eminently sociable with birds of its own kind, and 

 devoted in its attachment to human dwellings, the other is a solitary 

 bird, shy and wary, avoiding at all times the sight of men and 

 their habitations. It is a rare bird in most countries of Europe, 

 but is common in several parts of Asia and the whole of the known 

 regions of Africa. It builds a large nest in a lofty tree, and lays 

 from two to five eggs. 



