40 



British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



their plumage in winter from tliat of the breeding season ; the moulting of their 

 feathers taking place through all parts of the year except the breeding time. 



The young males, when their mating time comes, engage in fierce contests 

 with each other for possession of a particular female, who then becomes the partner 

 of the successful combatant, not for a season only, but for life, a bond to which 

 both bird are believed to be very faithful. An instance of the constancy of a 

 wedded pair of White Storks is given by Mr. Lydekker, in his " Royal Natural 

 History," where " it is stated that for three years a female which remained during 

 the winter, in Europe, was visited annually by her mate, when both nested as 

 usual. In the fourth year, however, the male bird also remained with his partner 

 dviring the winter, and this continued for three years. Eventually both birds 

 were shot, when it was discovered that the female had been prevented from 

 migrating by an old wound." 



The White Stork has been, from time immemorial, the emblem, not only of 

 conjiigal fidelity, but of filial piety. It is a very ancient belief that when the 

 parent birds are grown old and unable to fly, their young support them on each 

 side from place to place, and if they become blind they feed them also, and care- 

 fully tend them as long as they live. It was also an ancient belief that the 

 Storks, when they reached old age, departed to the isles of the sea, and there 

 turned into men as a reward for their piety. 



The White Stork's food consists of lizards, frogs, locusts, beetles, and other 

 insects, mice, rats, and snails. In its quest for these it may be seen stalking 

 sedately, and with perfect fearlessness, in the fields where, as Professor Newton 

 observes, " apart from its considerable size * * its contrasted plumage of pure 

 white and deep black, with its bright red bill and legs, makes it a conspicuous 

 and beautiful object, especially when seen against the fresh green grass of a 

 luxuriant meadow." 



The White Stork is a voiceless bird ; but it can be none the less a very noisy 

 one, for it can produce quite an uproar when a number of them take to clattering 

 their mandibles together, tossing their heads high in the air, and well thrown 

 back. They have also another peculiar habit, when they assemble together in the 

 open country, which they always frequent, of indulging in an extraordinary 

 evolutionary dance, so high-stepping and grotesque, that no idea can be conveyed 

 in words, and the show-off requires to be seen to be fully conceived and enjoyed. 



This species flies with its neck fully outstretched, and not carried, as among 

 the Herons, shortened on the back. Mr. J. H. Gumey says that it leaves its 

 nest with a spring, " getting quite clear before it ventures to expand its huge 

 wings. It does not draw in its legs, which are so long that they exceed the tail 



