136 NATURAL UISTOSY. 



one other species in Africa which is as remarkable as this the Ostrich. It would indeed suffice if 

 we were to take these two birds as types of Africa. One of them, the ' new wonder of the desert, 

 the camel of birds, a bird which flies on its legs and steers with its wings, a winged Giraffe, which 

 affords the Arabs matter for a thousand fables ; ' the other, ' the wondrous guardian of the holy 

 .stream which shrouds its source in secrecy,' in its origin a mystery, in itself a riddle. The sacred 

 Ibis, no less a servant of the ancient god, added its long-established renown to the sacred stream, 

 legend has given the Boot-bill its celebrated name, a name as remarkable as the bird itself, while 

 it has earned from the atmosphere of fable with which it is surrounded, owing to its fantastic form, 

 * the whale-head ' and ' king ! ' and verily with him the innermost and obscurest realm of the 

 world is revealed." * 



The true Storks have not the hooked bills which distinguish the foregoing birds; they 

 contain the Adjutants, the Open-bills (Anastomus), and the "Wood Ibises (Tantalus). The White 

 Stork (Ciconia a'.ba) is a summer visitor to Europe, and is seldom found in England. In many parts 

 of the continent, however, he is by no means uncommon, and wherever they occur they are protected 

 t>y the peasants on whose houses they build, and the nests are regarded in many places as a protection 

 from fire. The migration occurs during January and February, when the Stork arrives in his 

 winter quarters in South Africa, passing by the Strait of Gibraltar in vast numbers, some of them, 

 According to Colonel Irby, remaining to breed in Morocco. These are the first to depart south. 

 During the autumn migration a great many stop to rest on their southward journey, and are seen 

 in considerable numbers, being very tame, and often following close behind the plough. M. Favier 

 .states that the Moors believe that it offends God to kill these birds, in the same way as they believe 

 that it pleases or soothes the evil one to kill the Raven. The White Storks, in common with Swallows, 

 are supposed to be inspired by Allah to protect the harvest and the country from noxious insects 

 and reptiles, and the birds themselves (knowing the benefits they confer on man) ask in return 

 protection for their offspring by building their nests on the walls of towns and houses. Another 

 Arab legend is that the Storks originate from a wicked Kadi and his family, who, as a punishment 

 for their great cruelty, were all changed into these birds, and that these miserables humble themselves 

 to appease Allah, and in the hope of some day regaining their original human form, pray without 

 ceasing day and night, and, whenever they rest, prostrate themselves and clack their bills. 



Colonel Irby says : " On the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, in many situations, the 

 Storks breed on trees, generally in colonies, as well as on houses, but usually near villages, and almost 

 every Moorish hovel has its Stork's nest on the top, a pile of sticks lined with grass and palmetto- 

 fibre. It usually contains four white eggs, which are very rarely marked with pink blotches ; these 

 are sometimes laid as early as the 25th of March, and are very good eating, either hot or cold. . . 

 I may here remark that Storks usually migrate in large flocks at a great height, with a gyrating 

 flight. The earliest date of their arrival that I noticed near Gibraltar was on the llth of Jaiiuaiy ; 

 and they nearly all leave by the end of September. Feeding on insects of all kinds mice, snakes, and 

 other reptiles they are most useful birds, and certainly deserve the protection and encouragement 

 which they receive in Morocco, whei-e they are in consequence excessively tame. Their grotesque 

 actions when resting, and their habit of continually clacking their bills together, making a noise like 

 a rattle, render them very amusing to watch. I was informed by a Frenchman who had passed two 

 years in the city of Morocco, that there, as well as at Fez, and some other large towns in the Moorish 

 Empire, there is a regular Storks' hospital, and that should one be in any way injured, or fall from the 

 nest, it is sent to this institution, or rather, enclosure, which is kept up by subscription from wealthy 

 Moors, who consider the Stork a sacred bird."f 



Of the Adjutant (Leploplilus argala) an excellent account is given by Dr. Jerdon in his 

 " Birds of India": "The pouch is sometimes sixteen inches and more in length. It has no connection 

 with the gullet, but is probably connected with the respiratory system of the bird ; and as Mi'. Blyth 

 suggested, is probably analogous to the air-cell attached to one lung only of the Python or Boa, and ? 

 as in that case, no doubt supplies oxygen to the lungs during protracted acts of deglutition. It appears 

 to increase in size with the age of the bird. 



" The Adjutant is found throughout the greater part of India, is rare in the South, but extremely 

 * " Bird Life," p. 192. f " Birds of Gibraltar," p. 189. 



