THE STORK. 139 



however, by the following, that the expected conse- 

 quences of such a discovery might well account for 

 the horror and indignation manifested by the won- 

 dering parents. 



A French surgeon, at Smyrna, wishing to procure a 

 Stork, and finding great difficulty, on account of the 

 extreme veneration in which they are held by the 

 Turks, stole all the eggs out of a nest, and replaced 

 them with those of a hen: in process of time the 

 young chickens came forth, much to the astonishment 

 of Mr. and Mrs. Stork. In a short time Mr. S. went 

 off, and was not seen for two or three days, when he 

 returned with an immense crowd of his companions, 

 who all assembled in the place, and formed a circle, 

 taking no notice of the. numerous spectators, which 

 so unusual an occurrence had collected. Mrs. Stork 

 was brought forward into the midst of the circle, 

 and after some consultation, the whole flock fell 

 upon her, and tore her to pieces; after which they 

 immediately dispersed, and the nest was entirely 

 abandoned. 



We suspect that constancy and fidelity amongst 

 birds exist to a greater degree than we are aware 

 of; whatever testimony can be collected on the 

 'subject certainly tends to prove it. Thus, a pair 

 of Magpies had built their nest in a tree, where 

 they were constantly under the observation of a 

 person whose house was near at hand. One morn- 

 ing early, during the absence of the male, the female 

 flew from her tree to a field hard by, where she was 

 soon joined by a male, who paid her great attention. 

 During this interview the mate returned to the nest, 

 and on seeing his partner hopping about familiarly 



