THE WHITE STORK. 19 



which are chiefly determined by the nature of their 

 food. This consists of various kinds of garbage, of 

 worms and insects, fishes and reptiles, and among the 

 latter more particularly of frogs. At the approach of 

 the colder season, when these animals begin to conceal 

 themselves in holes, in order to pass the winter in a 

 state of torpor, the Storks are driven by the failure of 

 their usual means of subsistence to seek a more tem- 

 perate climate, in which the same scarcity of food is 

 not likely to be felt ; but they constantly return north- 

 wards with the return of spring. The most common 

 and the most celebrated among them is the White 

 Stork, which generally passes its winters in the north 

 of Africa, and more particularly in Egypt, and migrates 

 during the summer season to France and Holland, 

 Sweden, Germany, Poland, and sometimes even Russia, 

 but is very rarely met with in England. It is rather 

 larger than the succeeding species, measuring more 

 than three feet from the extremity of the bill to the 

 tip of the tail, and standing about the same height 

 from the ground to the top of its head. Its bill, which 

 is usually of an orange red, measures from seven to 

 eight inches in length ; the naked and wrinkled skin 

 surrounding its eyes is nearly of the same colour, but 

 generally of a duskier hue; and its legs are also red. 

 The greater part of its plumage is of a clear white, 

 which is however relieved by the striking contrast of 

 the feathers covering the lower part of the shoulders, 

 the larger wing-coverts, and the quill-feathers, thirty 

 in number, all of which are of a glossy black, with a 

 slight metallic reflection. When fully expanded the 

 extent of the wings exceeds six feet, and in this state 

 the eight or nine primarv' quill-feathers offer a very 

 singular and indeed unique disposition, being separated 

 from each other so as to leave a vacant space between. 



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