Book III. O^S^IT HO LOqY. z8 7 . 



Jo. Faber* defcribes this Bird very diligently and exa&ly thus : Its length from the * »> his An- 

 point of the Bill to the Feet was fix f fpans and an half; The meafure was the fame of "^S^his- 

 the Wings extended. The Bill alone ( wherein was ken a fhort reddifh Tongue J was Animils. 

 a Roman foot long : The Legs two fpans. The Gullet was of that capacity or wide- J" T J\ e Latine 

 nefs, thatthe Bird being hanged up by the Feet, a great Frog dropt out of the mouth JS**^ 

 of its own accord, without any force, and four more were found entire in its fto-- 

 mach. In which ftomach, made of hard flelh, were many Frogs bones, and a certain 

 dry lump not unlike dung. The Neck was a fpan and half long: The Legs and Feet 

 meager. The colour or the Wings and all the Back blackifh, as far as the lower Bel- 

 ly. This black is mixt with a darkbluifh and purple, the dusky colour being predo- 

 minant, efpecially in the greater feathers of the Wings. The Neck recedes farther 

 from the colour of the Back, and doth wonderfully delight the Eyes with a moil: 

 grateful mixture of blue, purple, and green ; men as is obferved in the necks of Pi- 

 geons and Mallards. And becaufe only the lower region of the Belly, beginning far 

 below the Breaft, hath white and 10ft feathers 5 the whole Bird is rather to be deno- 

 minated black than white. The orbits of the Eyes, the whole Bill, Legs, and Feet 

 are of a moft pleafant fcarletred, or * vermilion colour. All which things put toge- * Kefembling 

 ther, viz,, the Irately ftructure of the whole body, and that fymmetry of various and JheTnfcfeSi 

 pleafant colours, render this Bird very elegant and beautiful to behold. It isnotal- orourc/«- 

 together whole-footed like a Dnck :9 yet the three fore-toes are joyned together half- Habar ' 

 way by a tough membrane; the back-toe or keel being pretty long, and armed with 

 a ftrong Talon. Thefe birds frequent Fens, Lakes, and Sea-fhores $ into thefe wa- 

 ters they run, intent upon their prey, fometimes alfo diving under water, maintain 

 ihemfelves by fifhing, as lam affured by our Fowlers upon their credit. This Bird is 

 not very frequent at Rome, yet is it fometimes expofed to fale among other Sea- fowl. 

 Its fie in hath fucha fifty tafte and (tench, that being thrown to our Cat, the refufed 

 it, and would not touch it. He endeavours to prove this Bird to be the Mergrn of Ovid, 

 See the Author. 



All Storks make a clattering or fnapping noife with their Bills, by clapping one 

 Mandible nimbly againft the other. They arefaid to live only in Republics and free- 

 States 5 but this we found by experience to be falfe, obferving them in the Territories 

 of fome Princes in Germany. There is a tradition alfo that they feed and nourifh their 

 Parents in their old age, when they are unable to feek their own food : Whence 

 the word dvlcmX^y.^ fignifying the duty of Children in requiting and maintaining 

 their aged Parents. 



§. III. 



* The American Storks, called by the Brazilians Maguari ofMarggrave. 



"I T is a Bird lik to the Storkjn figure, and bignefs, and partly alfo in colour. It hatft 

 I a Neck a foot long: A ftreightj (harp Bill, of nine inches length; long,naked 

 Legs, like the Storks a fhort Tail reaching no further than the Wings. Its Bill at bo- 

 torn half way up is of a yellowifh green : The other half being of a bluifh afh-co- 

 lour. It hath fmail, filver-coloured Eyes with a black Pupil, an4 about them a Ver- 

 milion-coloured skin, and the like alfo below, near the rife of the Bill, or between 

 the Bill and the Throat,which when fhe is angry fhe lets hang down under the Throat 

 after the manner of the Senembi. The whole Head, Neck, and all the body is co- 

 vered with pure white feathers 5 and on the lower part of the Neck thofe white fea- 

 feathers are of a good length. The Tail alfo is white, but above covered with cer- 

 • tain black feathers. The Wings at letting on are covered with white feathers, but 

 near the Back with black 5 which black hath a glofs of green. It Legs and Feet are 

 red and like a Storks, It fnaps alfo with its Bill like our Country Stork. Its flefhis 

 efculent. 



Cha p. 



