1120 
DISSURA EPISCOPA. 
Head and nape black, glossed with metallic green, the feathers not extending beyond the anterior corner of the eye ; 
upper and middle portion of the neck with the throat white, the feathers somewhat decomposed and soft ; lower 
portion of neck and elongated plumes in front overlying the chest brilliant metallic amethystine, illumined with 
green when viewed against the light, the concealed parts of the feathers blackish green ; back, upper tail-coverts, 
scapulars, and wings black, glossed with green and purple reflections ; the feathers along the ulna of the same 
tarsus 7*0 ; middle toe 3*5 ; bill to gape 7*8 . — Adult (“ Europe”: Brit. Mus.). Wing 21*5 inches, bill at front 
6*1. There appears to be considerable variation in the length of tarsus. 
Iris deep brown ; bill red, dusky at the extreme tip ; legs and feet pinky red, claws black ; orbital skin blackish. 
Plumage white, except the primaries, secondaries, primary-coverts, winglet, tertials, and longer scapulars, which are 
black; the primary-coverts white at the base; shafts of the primaries white at the base; plumes at the lower 
part of the front of the neck elongated. 
Young. Bill yellowish orange, dusky in parts ; gular pouch dusky in front, orange at the gape ; orbital skin dusky ; 
iris greenish brown ; legs and feet pale yellowish, becoming orange in parts ; claws yellowish horny (Scidly). A 
young bird bred in June measured on the 24th July — wing 19*8 inches, tarsus 8*15 ; weight 6 lb. 0*5 oz. Tlumage 
similar to the adult. 
Distribution.- — -Until very recently the Stork has never been noticed in Ceylon ; and up to the present time, so far as 
I am aware, no specimens have actually been procured in the island. I have, however, received undoubted evidence of 
its occurrence in the south-east of the island, where Mr. Bligh met with it near Yala at the beginning of last year ; and 
I accordingly include the species in the avifauna of Ceylon. At the same time I follow the rule adopted through the 
work, and include my notice of this bird as a footnote only. The circumstances under which Mr. Bligh met with the 
Stork are so peculiar that I append his account verbatim : — “ I wish I could do justice,” he writes, “ to a scene we witnessed 
on returning from Udapottena, which we left at daybreak. The sun was just rising as wo neared the ford across a salt 
lagoon ; on the right was a scattered herd of spotted deer scampering off to their prickly coverts. Suddenly rounding a 
clump of bushes near the ford, and which had hid it from our view, we were astonished to meet within a few yards of 
us a huge grey Pelican, looking so comical, lazily flapping his big wings, with his head tucked in, while he was being 
most determinedly attacked by a beautiful White Stork ( Ciconia alba), which was striking him on the centre of the back 
with its beak. The Stork was a lovely-plumaged mature bird ; its brilliant red beak and legs showed to advantage in 
the rising sun, and with its black-and-white plumage so clearly defined it looked quite a showy bird compared with the 
Pelican. What caused the quarrel it is impossible to conjecture ; it might be that the Pelican had been poaching on the 
Stork’s favourite fishing-grounds, and the latter had got alarmed on seeing the intruder’s mode of scooping up the fish by 
the score into its capacious pouch!” Subsequently to the receipt of this account, Mr. Parker informs me that he met 
with several Storks at the tank of Nikaweratiya, which appeared to be breeding there in company with Egrets, Herons, 
&c. ; but I am doubtful as to the correctness of their identification, as the Stork does not breed anywhere in India ; and 
i it is possible that the Pelican-Ibis may have been mistaken for the present species, which can only be a migrant in its 
non-breeding season to the island. 
In India the Stork is a common cold- weather visitant, being tolerably frequent in the Deccan, distributed throughout 
the region between there aud Calcutta, near which place it occurs occasionally, as also in Furreedpore, further east ; but 
beyond the confines of Bengal it does not extend. In the north-west of the empire it is scattered moderately throughout 
the various provinces in the cold w’eather, and was met with by Mr. Hume in tolerable numbers on the Indus. Dr. Scully 
found it common in the plains of Ivashgharia from April to August, breeding there, and the young remaining until October. 
Further east it is replaced by a larger species ( G . hoyciana), very similar, but differing in the colour of its bill, which is 
brown with a reddish base, and in the shape of the nude orbital skin. It is found in Persia and Palestine, passing north- 
ward in April through the latter country in such vast flocks that the entire country (rocky hills, oliveyards, sandy plains, 
and even the dungliills in villages) is covered wdth them ; they remain, moving north a few miles a day, till they have 
cleared off all the snakes, lizards, frogs, or fish, and they then disappear. 
In Southern Africa it winters in abundance, being found in Cape Colony and in Damara Laud, and is said by Layard, 
on reliable evidence, to breed in the former region. It is found on the w-est coast, and in the northern parts of the con- 
tinent is very abundant, especially on passage northwards to Europe, in many countries of which it breeds. It nests in 
the Sahara, in Morocco, and Algeria; and Von Heugliu considers that it may do so in limited numbers in Is orth-eastern 
