162 
natural history 
STORIC. 
Storks are birds of passage, like the crane; 
but it is hard to say whence they come or 
whither they go. When they withdraw 
from Europe, they all assemble on a particu- 
lar day, and never leave one of their com- 
pany behind them. They take their flight 
m the night: hence the way they go has 
never been observed. They generally re- 
turn to Europe in the middle of March, and 
make their nests on the tops of high trees. 
The females lay from two to four eggs, of 
the size and colour of those of geese. As the 
food of these birds consists in a great mea- 
sure of frogs and serpents, it is not to be 
wondered at that different nations have paid 
them a particular veneration. The neck, 
head, breast, and belly, of this bird are 
white; the rump and exterior feathers of the 
wings black ; and the legs long and slender. 
