THE 
SADDLE-BILLED 
STORK 
Ciconia senegalmsis. 
Plate XLIII. 
The cranes and storks are alike showy and attractive birds, and ever since the Zoological Society’s Gardens 
were first formed, have been much sought for as most desirable acquisitions for our living collection. At one 
time or another nearly the whole of the known species have been acquired, and the series of these two 
families exhibited rarely consists of less than from twenty-five to thirty individuals. During the summer 
these are arranged in pairs in a series of enclosures opposite the Sew Monkey House, though in the winter it 
becomes necessary to move some of them into a more sheltered situation. 
The Saddle-billed Stork is one of the largest and most strongly marked of the whole family, its red-banded 
bill and parti-colored legs rendering it very noticeable. It is an inhabitant of the marshes and rivers of 
central Africa, extending on one side to the White Nile and Abyssinia, and on the other side to the Gambia. 
Mr. Petherick met with this bird on the Bahr el Ghazal in 1859, where he obtained living specimens of the 
Balceniceps, but did not succeed in bringing it alive to England. The pair from which Mr. Wolf’s figures are 
taken were purchased from a dealer in Liverpool in April, 1861, having been received from some port of 
Western Africa. They were quite young on their arrival, but have now acquired their adult dress. 
