42 



ELEMENTS OP ORNITHOLOGT. 



alba), whieh, though very rarely seen in this country, is abun- 

 dant enough in Holland, where many pairs breed on boxes or 

 other objects which Dutchmen place for them on the tops of 

 their' houses. They make themselves as much at home on houses 

 as House-martins do; and sometimes several nests are built 

 upon the same roof, although a nest is a very large structure of 

 4 or 5 feet in diameter, made of sticks, reeds, and earth, and 

 hned with hair, feathers, wool, rags, or other softer objects. 

 The Stork may serve as the type of about a dozen and a half 



Fig. 41. 



The Stork (Oioonia atba). 



Stork-like Birds which are, for the most part, inhabitants of 

 the Old World, though amongst them is the American Jabiru 

 (Mycteria americana) and certain " "Wood Storks " (of the genus 

 Tantalus), which are often spoken of as " "Wood Ibises," though 

 they are in fact very different from the true Ibises, which will 

 be spoken of later. 



Another familiar large, long-legged, long-necked Bird, whiek 

 has an external resemblance to the Stork, is the Crane (Orus 

 cinerea). This Bird is said to have bred in English marsh- 



