CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 1. GRALLATORES. 



285 



THE MAKABOUT STORK. (See p. 286.) 



winter- quarters in Asia and Africa. They are very common in Holland and parts of Germany. 

 Their services in the countries frequented by them, in tlie destruction of vermin of all kinds, 

 prevent their being the ol)jects of any molestation ; they are, therefore, generally very fearless 

 of man, and frequently build their nests on the tops of the houses in the very centers of towns; 

 indeed, in many places, the inhabitants place wooden boxes or frames on the tops of their houses 

 to mduco these birds to build there; and the man whose house is selected by one of them for 

 this purpose, always considers himself particularly fortunate. They return annually to breed in 

 the same place, and manifest great delight on again taking possession of their deserted home. 



The nest is formed of a mass of sticks and other coarse materials, in which the bird lays three 

 or four eggs, which are hatched in abont a month, and the young are then tended with great 

 care by both parents, who feed them by inserting their bills into the mouth of the young bird, and 

 disgorging some of the half-digested food from their own stomachs. The old birds manifest the 

 greatest attachment to their young, which has rendered them objects of admiration in all ages. 

 A most remarkable instance of this occurred in the conflagration of Delft, where a female stork 

 was observed, after repeated attempts to carry off her young, to prefer remaining with them to 



