THE BIRDS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 
661 
230. Common Bittern. Botaurus stellaris. 
Botaurus stellaris stellaris (L.). (Syst. Nat. Ed. x, p. 144, 1758 — Sweden). 
A winter visitor in small numbers to those lakes and marshes which afford 
suitably thick cover. In the marshes south of Baghdad it is not very uncommon 
and found singly as a rule, and usually one or two are flushed when out duck and 
snipe shooting. The earliest record is September and the latest April 20th and 
a straggler in May. 
Two specimens examined : 9> Basra, 8-3-17 (Stevens) ; Amara (P. A. B.). 
231. White Stork. Ciconia ciconia. ’‘Haji Lug-a-Lug.” 
Ciconia ciconia ciconia (L.) (Syst. Nat. Ed. x, p. 142, 1758 — Sweden). 
Common ; partly resident, also a passage migrant ; many no doubt are summer 
visitors and some spend the winter. To what extent the breeding birds are 
resident or summer visitors cannot be determined, as Storks may be seen in every 
month of the year and large numbers pass over Mesopotamia at the times of mi- 
gration; to the lower parts of the plains it is a winter visitor and passage migrant. 
The breeding range of the Stork in Mesopotamia is somewhat curious ; a line 
drawn from about Babylon on the Euphrates to Baghdad and then across to 
Mendali in the foot-hills makes the southern limit of the range except that a few 
nest at Shustar and Shush in Khuzistan (but not Ahwaz) ; to the north of this 
line every town on both rivers has its colony, and nests on houses, mosques and tall 
poplars are familiar to all who have been there, even Jonah’s tomb at Nineveh 
is occupied. They start to repair their nests early in the year ; on February 19th 
at Samarra, and on the 21st at Beled, operations had begun. Nesting is in full 
swing by April and feathered young were noted in June. After the breeding 
season they collect in the neighbourhood in vast flocks preparatory to migrat- 
ing or scattering further afield in the country, and so, from the end of July on- 
wards, Storks may be seen in those parts where they do not breed. From mid- 
September till the end of October they are common and well distributed through- 
out the country and during this period large flocks may be seen passing, circling 
round and round at a great height, drifting south before the wind, doubtless 
migrants from further north. In winter it is scarce, but some may be met with 
in favoured spots all the winter in many different places. Spring migration 
starts early and begins fairly regularly in the middle of February and lasts through 
March and up to the first week in April during which time they become common 
again and frequent flocks may be seen going over north or north-west. 
The migrations of the Storks are well known to the Arabs who suppose that 
they go on an annual pilgrimage to Mecca and are accordingly venerated by them 
for this, and because they select mosques for building their nests on, hence their 
title of “ Haji.” So much are they respected that when the question arose as 
to whether the golden tiles on the mosque at Samarra should be repaired the 
idea was abandoned as it entailed disturbing the Stork’s nest, until someone 
suggested that as “ Haji Lug-a-lug ” was away at Mecca the nest was, for the 
time being, not required and so the repairs might be undertaken !! 
Unlike some other species of birds, the flocks of these birds were not at all 
disturbed by aeroplanes flying close to them. The curious breeding distribu- 
tion seems inexplicable, it cannot be on account of climate, or lack of suitable 
towns, as these exist at Sera, Baghela, Kut, etc., and Sera is no great distance 
from Kerbela where it nests and both are about equidistant from Baghdad. It 
has been suggested that they have remained from time immemorial on the sites 
of ancient cities which formed their breeding quarters when lower Mesopotamia 
was under the sea, but were this so Nasariyeh, Ahwaz, etc., should have their 
nesting colonies. It has been reported as breeding at Fao (Gumming) and at 
Old Basra (Stoneham) on hear-say evidence ; our latest information is that it 
does not breed at Fao now. 
