KEEL-BREASTED BIRDS. 



255 



A white species is found in Europe and Asia. They nest 

 in communities in trees, depositing from two to four thick- 

 shelled, whitish eggs with reddish-gray and yellow spots. 

 The ibis is an allied form. 



The Storks (Ciconiida) have long, slender legs, the bill 

 extremely stout and thick. The South American jabiru 

 (Mycteria America- 

 na) is the only repre- 

 sentative in Ameri- 

 ca. The Australian 

 jabiru is one of the 

 handsomest of the 

 family, and has a 

 wide range in that 

 country. The white 

 stork (Ciconia alba) 

 (Fig. 291) is a com- 

 mon Europeanform, 

 with strong, conical, 

 pointed bill. In the 

 winter they migrate 

 southward. They 

 frequent marshes. 



Allied is the 

 pouched stork or 

 adjutant of India 

 (Fig. 292), that has 

 r. curious skinny 

 pouch hanging un- 

 der the throat. 



They attain a height of five feet. A tame one has been 

 known to swallow a whole boiled fowl, and to snap up 

 a live cat. Allied to this group is the remarkable whale- 

 headed stork (Batemccps rex), in which the beak resembles 

 a wooden shoe. They frequent the banks of the White 

 Nile. The nest is a simple hole in the ground. The 



FIG. 291. The white stork. 



