Family CICONIID^. 



THE WHITE STORK. 



Ciconia alba, Bechstein. 

 Plate 42. 



The White Stork is an occasional straggler from the Continent of Europe to the 

 British Islands, the greater number of the records coming from East Anglia, where 

 some thirty have been noted, whilst its visits to Scotland and Ireland are few and 

 far between, and although known for some centuries as a wanderer to our shores, 

 it has never at any time nested here. 



A summer visitant to many parts of the Continent of Europe, and ranging as 

 far north as Norway and southwards to Spain, the White Stork also inhabits Asia 

 and Africa, and winters in Central and South Africa, as well as in India. 



The nest, composed of sticks, is generally placed on buildings, where, in Europe, 

 the birds are often encouraged to make their homes by the fixing of a cart-wheel 

 or some other staging. They will also build on wood- or straw-stacks as well as 

 in trees. The eggs, usually four in number, are white in colour. 



The food consists of worms, reptiles and insects, as well as young birds and 

 small rodents, which the bird obtains in the pastures and marshes. 



The White Stork appears to be voiceless, but in the breeding season makes 

 a loud clatter by the striking together of the mandibles. According to the late 

 Colonel Irby {l^he Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar), " Storks usually migrate 

 in large flocks at a great height, with a gyrating flight." 



The sexes do not differ in colour. 



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