ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
67 
numbers and many nests in use for years with¬ 
out number are now tenantless. Some authori¬ 
ties attribute the loss to poisoned locusts, eaten 
by the birds in their South African winter range, 
others feel that it is due simply to the drainage 
of old marshes which harbored suitable food 
for the summer months. At any rate, if this 
picturesque feature of Dutch fields is to disap¬ 
pear, its absence will be keenly felt. 
In storks, as in swans, where the traditional* 
color is white, it is strange to find a color anti¬ 
thesis. But as there is a black swan in contrast 
to the snowy bird of old, so is there a Hack 
stork to upset our well established idea of what 
a stork should be. The black stork breeds in 
Germany, and perhaps in Spain, ranging east¬ 
ward over Asia. It is smaller and much more 
shy than the white bird and avoids the haunts 
of men. Scarce in Europe, it is said to be fairly 
abundant in portions of Asia. The species has 
not been represented in the Zoological Park 
since 1914—one of the many war-gaps which 
time has not yet filled. 
Once accustomed to the fact that the con¬ 
ventional stork is not alone in the world, we 
are not surprised to find that some nineteen 
species are known, and that representatives are 
found on every continent of the earth. Thirteen 
of this number have been exhibited in the Zoo¬ 
logical Park, of which eight are included in 
our collection at the present time. These are 
the European white stork, the white-bellied 
stork, the white-necked stork, the black-necked 
stork, the maguari stork, the jabiru, the Indian 
adjutant and the wood ibis. 
The white-bellied stork is one of the smallest 
and at the same time, one of the most attractive 
species. It is a typically African bird and is so 
rare in collections that our present specimen, 
brought to us from Pretoria by Dr. A. Haagner, 
in 1920, is the first we have had. Its rather 
sombre plumage is relieved by bright red and 
blue about its face and the base of its bill. 
Strangely enough, this little stork is as deeply 
venerated by the African native as is the white 
stork by the European. It builds, its huge nest 
of sticks close to his dwelling and receives such 
THE EUROPEAN STORK 
Still venerated in Europe, this stork is unique 
for its place in the human affections of the whole 
juvenile world. 
THE LARGEST OF THE AMERICAN STORKS 
The jabiru vies with the marabou stork for the 
distinction of being the most grotesque of birds. 
The stony face of the sphinx is no more inscrut¬ 
able than the solemn visage of the jabiru as he 
stands in a pensive attitude of meditation. 
