170 GRALL.E. 



sea, chiefly in the autumn or winter ; which would lead to 

 the supposition that it has been blown westward on its 

 migration from Holland, where the birds breed in abundance, 

 to the south. Storks are birds of familiar and gentle dis- 

 positions, very cleanly in their habits, and great promoters of 

 cleanliness in those places which they frequent. They are 

 in consequence very much encouraged in towns and cities? 

 where they walk about the streets, and roost and breed on 

 the house-tops. They stand upon one foot, the other being 

 drawn up so that it does not appear. Though peculiar in 

 shape, they are handsome birds. The bill and feet are red, 

 the naked space round the orbits black, and the irides brown; 

 the scapulars, larger coverts, and quills, are black, and all 

 the rest of the plumage white. The young have the wings 

 and part of the back brownish, and the bill and feet reddish- 

 brown. The length of the bird is about three feet and a half, 

 the spread of the wings is about six feet, and the size of the 

 body about the same as that of the turkey. 



The white stork holds nearly the same place among the 

 migratory birds of the East that the night-heron does 

 among those of the West. The birds flock before they 

 begin their autumnal journey ; and as they approach the 

 southern limit of their range, the flocks become very nume- 

 rous. The flesh of the stork, when in good condition, is 

 excellent food ; but the birds do not breed in confinement. 

 They are the associates of man, but not, like domesticated 

 animals, his slaves. i 



THE BLACK STORK (Ciconia nigra). 



The black stork belongs to a more easterly migration than 

 the white, and is more a bird of the retired and wooded 

 marshes. It ranges as far north as Finland, but not to any 

 part of the western coast of Europe ; and only one specimen 



