262 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



4. Wrapped in thoughtful silence, he stalks, like Myn- 

 heer, stiff and full of gravity, through his drains and mea- 

 dows. At every step, he lifts with measured cadence the 

 long, stocking-covered leg, as if to guard it from possible 

 contamination ; while head and neck, in a continual tick- 

 tack, nod backward and forward in comical solemnity. 

 Thus, with ceremonious carriage, consort and spouse move 

 along, like peripatetic philosophers, until one or the other 

 perceives the fat, sprawling croaker in the thick sedge, and 

 suddenly darts forward the sharp bill, like a harpoon, to 

 impale the unhappy wretch, and bury him in the depths of 

 the gullet. The other stork raises his head and makes a 

 bow and a flourish. 



5. It is an easy, noiseless, and yet assiduous chase ; noth- 

 ing interrupts them, unless it be that a curious observer 

 comes too near them, or something unusual happens. Then 

 they stand still ; one leg is drawn up close to the body and 

 lays hold of the other, thus to give greater firmness to the 

 contemplative position ; the neck is stretched incpriringly 

 upward, and the eye is fixed on the object of alarm. In 

 this attitude, which, odd as it is, never sacrifices aught of 

 its grandezza, they will remain some minutes immovable, 

 and with all the gravity of an automaton, until persuaded 

 they may range further in safety, or that it would be wiser 

 to take flight. 



C. The large body rises with difficulty ; and it is comic 

 enough to see the worthy master of ceremonies brought so 

 complete!)' out of his equilibrium. He makes a few awk- 

 ward jumps, then follow some heavy flaps of the wings, and 

 the feet are stretched out like oars behind ; but yet the 

 reeling mass rises scarcely above the ground. Suddenly, 

 with a jerk, as though it had thrown away the tardy 

 crutch, the phlegmatic walker on stilts mounts high in 

 the ocean of air ; and now, in grandest rounds and soar- 

 ings, he displays to our astonished gaze the spectacle of his 



