436 



The Living Animals of the World 



construction consists of sticks and other substances. He considers himself a fortunate man 

 indeed who can Iwast a stori^'s nest on liis house. 



To show how widespread is tlie regard in which this bird is lield, we may mention that 

 in JMorocco, according to Colonel Irhy, "almost every Moorish hovel has its stork's nest on the 

 top, a pile of sticks lined with grass and palmetto-fibre," and he goes on to relate that in 

 " jMorocco and Fez, and some other large towns in the Moorish Empire, there is a regular 

 storks' hospital, and that, should one be in any way injured or fall from the nest, it is sent 

 to this institution, or rather enclosure, which is kept up by subscriptions from wealthy Moors, 

 who regard the stork as a sacred bird." 



Though the nest appears to be generally placed upon buildings, it is, when these fail, 

 built in trees, and the selection of such sites must be regarded as representing the original 

 practice of the species. 



The stork is one of the very few birds which appear to be quite dumb. It supplies the 

 want of a voice by a \ery remarkable clapping noise made by the long, horny beak. But even 

 this noise is rarely made, and a!)pears to be prompted by unusual excitement. "During 

 the breeding-season," ]Mr. Howard Saunders tells us, " storks keep up a clappering with their 

 bills, and this sound may frequently be heard jOTOceeding from a number of birds circling in 

 the air at such a height as to be almost invisible." 



The affection dis2)]ayed by storks for their young is piro\'erbial. They feed them by 

 thrusting their beaks down into the gaping little mouths, and injecting the half-digested 

 remains of their last meal, which may represent reptile, frog, or fish, varied by a small 

 mammal, young bird, worms, or insects. 



The white stork is a really beautiful bird. Except the quill- and some of the smaller 

 wing- feathers, which are black, the plumage is snow-white, whilst the bill and the legs are 

 bright red. Like the swallow, it performs extensive migrations, travelling in flocks, number- 

 ing many thousands, at an immense height. 



Scarcely less beautiful is the Black Stork, 

 and, like its white-plumaged ally, it is also 

 an occasional \isitant to Britain. It is a 

 handsome bird, having the plumage of the upper- 

 parts black, richly glossed with purple, copper, 

 and green ; the under-parts pure white ; and the 

 legs and beak red. But it is far less sociable, 

 and consequently less known, than the white 

 stork, shunning the haunts of men, and seeking 

 seclusion for its nest in the lofty trees of large 

 fo]-ests. 



The largest members of the Stork Tribe 

 are the Adjutant-storks and Jabirus. The 

 adjutants are also, to our eyes at least, singu- 

 larly ugly Inrds. Iir spite of this very natm-al 

 disadvantage, they have won a very high place 

 in the regard of the people anrong whom they 

 dwell, on account of the fact that, both in 

 Africa and India, they perform, with the 

 vultures, the work of scavengers. Yet there 

 is something of quaintness about these birds, 

 if they are watched from a distance too great 

 to reveal the character which imparts the ugli- 

 ness to which we ha\-e referred, and their actions 

 not seldom border on the grotesque. The name 

 Adjutant has been bestowed upon them on 



'1 1 II r Hon. WaUir Ilolhschild, Tn.vj. 



WHALE-HEADED STORK. 



A rai-e siiecies, leniarkaljle for the huge size uf the beak. 



