WHALE-HEADED STORK. 
3°3 
whitish grey. The iris is mostly brown, the beak brown with a yellow border to 
the lower mandible, and the leg and foot yellowish. 
The savaku, as the bird is called by the natives of South America, frequents 
the thick woods bordering the Brazilian rivers, where it may be seen either solitary, 
or in pairs during the breeding-season. These birds are more numerous in the 
interior than near the coast; and may be observed either in the low bushes on the 
banks or perched on boughs high above the river. Their food consists of various 
aquatic creatures, especially worms ; but from the conformation of their beak, 
which is probably used for grovelling in the mud, it is doubtful if these birds can 
catch fish. Practically nothing has been ascertained as to their breeding-habits, 
although it is known that the eggs are uniformly white, and very similar in general 
appearance to those of a heron. 
The Whale-Headed Stork. 
Family B ALJENIQHITIDJE. 
The extraordinary-looking and gigantic bird known as the whale-headed, or 
shoe-billed stork (Balceniceps rex), which is peculiar to certain parts of Africa, 
forms the sole representative of a distinct family, whose nearest relationship, 
according to Mr. Beddard, appears to be with the herons, and from which family 
it may be a highly modified offshoot. 1 While agreeing with the herons in the 
presence of powder-down patches on the rump, and the absence of bare tracts on 
the sides of the neck, as well as in several internal features, the whale-head is 
distinguished by the absence of pectination on the claw of the third toe, and 
likewise in the Y-shaped furcula having no process jutting forth into the angle. 
Apart from these morphological features, the large size of these birds, and their 
extraordinary beaks, render them perfectly distinguishable at a glance from all 
their allies. The broad and depressed beak, unlike that of the boat-billed heron, 
is concave in profile, with a strong ridge down the middle of the upper mandible, 
the tip produced into a bold hook, and the cutting-edges highly curved; the 
minute nostrils being situated at its base and not placed in a groove. The 
lower mandible is covered with a soft, leathery skin for the greater part of its 
length, although horny at the tip. The legs are very long, and naked for a 
considerable distance above the ankle; and the elongated toes are not webbed. 
The long and broad wings have the third and fourth quills the longest; the tail is 
of moderate length, with twelve feathers; and there is a short bushy crest at the 
back of the head. The prevailing ground-colour of the plumage is a fine ashy 
grey, the larger body-feathers being bordered with lighter grey, and the wing and 
tail-feathers greyish black. The iris is yellow, the beak horn-colour, and the leg 
and foot black. In size this bird comes between the white and the marabou stork, 
although much nearer to the latter than the former. 
Known to the Arabs as abu markub (father of a shoe), this giant bird is 
restricted to the White Nile and its affluents, and although everywhere rare is 
most numerous in the districts of Kitsh and Nuer in Northern Equatoria, where 
1 This relationship is not admitted by Professor Newton. 
