168 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



also given. These two, furthermore, agree in being the only two storks in which the 

 ambiens muscle is wanting. Both are natives of Africa. The former was met with 

 by Dr. J. Kirk in the Zambesi region. He states that it feeds on snakes, frogs, and 

 fish, which latter it was seen catching in the shallow water of the river Rovuma, by 

 running forward rapidly, so as to make the fish rush past it, when it caught them, 

 keeping its bill all the while in the water. He asserts that they are commonly found 

 in pairs, never in large flocks. Mr. Ayres says that occasionally, when the pairs are 

 feeding together, they suddenly stop and skip or dance round and round in a small 

 circle, then, stopping to bow to each other, again resume their quaint dance. The 

 bird is white, with the head and neck black, glossed with bronze-green ; scapulars and 

 wing and tail feathers black. The bill is described as bright crimson with a black 

 * saddle,' as seen in the figure ; the frontal shield bright yellow ; shanks and tarsi 

 black, heels and feet brick-dust red. The female is said to have the iris yellow, while 

 it is brown in the male. 



The white-bellied stork (/& abdimii) is characterized by its short legs. Above, it 

 is greenish purple, the neck brown with purplish gloss. The bill is greenish with 

 orange-red tip. Dr. Alfred E. Brehm writes thus of it in his journal : 



" This bird, especially seeking the presence of men, confidingly perches on the 

 tops of those peculiar, round, wedge-shaped straw huts of the interior of Africa, 

 adorned with eggs of the ostrich, and here called ' tokahl ; ' the dweller in the hut 

 rejoices in these ' birds of blessing,' as he calls them, and protects them from foreign 

 disturbance ; in fact, he offers the same perfect hospitality to every bird which estab- 

 lishes its nest near his dwelling. In the storks' nests the chattering host of house- 

 sparrows build their nests ; on the lower bushes, at hardly man's height, are seen 

 many old nests of turtle-doves. I sent my servant Aali, in spite of his opposition, up 

 the trees to fetch me down eggs of the storks. He brought me many, three or four 

 from each nest. The Arabs raised a cry of murder, that we disturbed their holy birds, 

 ' simbere, ' and invoked the curse and punishment of heaven upon Aali and myself, 

 which brought him quite to rage and despair." 



The following account by Sir Samuel Baker is said to relate to the present species. 

 The copper-colored 'fly-catcher,' mentioned therein, is thought to be a Lampro- 

 tornis : 



" During the march over a portion of the country which had been cleared by burn- 

 ing, we met a remarkably curious hunting-party. A number of the common black and 

 white storks were hunting for grasshoppers and other insects, but mounted on the 

 back of each stork was a large copper-colored fly-catcher, which, perched like a rider 

 on his horse, kept a bright lookout for insects, which, from its elevated position, it 

 could easily discover upon the ground. I watched them for some time. Whenever 

 the storks perceived a grasshopper or other winged insect, they chased them on foot ; 

 but if they missed their game the fly-catchers darted from their backs, ant' then return- 

 ing to their steeds to look out for another opportunity." 



The ibises and storks have generally been regarded as sacred birds by the people 

 among which they occur, and as the Arabs in Africa and Asia are averse to killing or 

 disturbing them, so the European farmer protects the white, red-billed, and red-legged 

 stork ( Ciconia ciconia) which has built its large nest on top of his house ; and those 

 who are not so fortunate as to possess a stork-nest on the roof, fix an old cart-wheel 

 on the ridge, in order to induce a stork family to construct their bulky nest on the 

 foundation thus offered. Year after year the same pair return to the same house, after 



