Agysf, tlie Kussian (?) name of the stork according to Mer-
_ .. ,., , r,.. r'„.,:„ rick, does not appear to be re-
Aucieut Egyptian Store-house for Gram. , . , . ., u , i
'"" lated to the Hebrew, unless it
sembling ovens, built of brick, with an opening at the | oould be shown that the Esthonian aigr, or aigro, ap-
top and'^a shutter in the side. A flight of stairs gives i)lied to the same bird, and the ol.l Teutonic aigel. Da- access to the top of these receptacles, into which the nish hegre, Italian and Provencal a?ione, aigron, de-
mred and noted, is poured till they are full. ' ' "^ •> - > - <• •<
)f emptying them was to open the shutter in
See Gkanaky.
(nTipn, chasiddh; translated indiflTercntly
t. dcji^a, tTToxb, fpoiciiof, TTtXfKai' ; Vulg. he-
grain, measured and noted, is poured till they are full The mode of emptying them was to open the shutter in the side. See Gkanaky.
Stork
by the Sept. dcriSa, t7ro;|/, tp rodio, herodius, milvns ; A.V. "stork," cxcqit in Job xxxix, 13, where it is translated "wing" ["stork" in the marg.]; but there is some question as to the cor- rect reading in this passage). See Ostkicii. (In the
nominations of the common lieron, are from the same source, and not priiniiive ap|i(llaiives in the great North- ern family of languages, whicli, it must be confessed, are not solitary examples in vocabularies so remote from each other. Of the smaller-sized, more solitary, black stork, no mention need i)e made in this place, because it is evidently not the bird referred to in the sacred writers.
II. Description ami Habits. — 1. Generally. — Storks are aliout a foot less in height than the crane, measur-
followiiu' account we chieflv follow the articles found i ing only three feet six inches from the tip of the bill to in the drctionaries of Kitto and Smith). I the end of the toes, and nearly the same to the end of
STORK
1050
STORK
the tail. They have a stout, pointed, and rather long bill, which, together with tlieir long legs, is of a bright scarlet color; the toes are partially webbed, the nails at tlie extremities Hat, and but little pointed beyond the tips of the joints. The orbits are blackish, but the whole bird is white, witii the exception of a few scapu- lars, the greater wing-covers, and all I lie tpiills, which are deep black ; these are doubly scallopetl out, with those nearest the body almost as long as the very fore- most in the wing. This is a provision of nature en- abling the bird more effectually to sustain its after- weight in the air— a faculty exceedingly important to its mode of rtight, with its long neck and longer legs equally stretched out, and very necessary to a migrat- ing species believed to tly without alighting from the Lower Rhine, or even from the vicinity of Strasburg, to Africa, and to the Delta of the Nile. The passage is performed in October, and, like that of cranes, in single or in double columns, uniting in a point to cleave the air ; but their departure is seldom seen, because they generally start in the night; they always rise with clapping wings, ascending with surprising rapidity out of human sight, and arriving at tlieir southern destina- tion as if by enchantment. Here they reside until the last days of March, when they again depart for the north, but more leisurely and less congregated. A feel- ing of attachment, not without superstition, procures them an unmolested life in all Moslem countries, and a notion of their utility still protects them in Switzer- land, Western Germany, and particularly in Holland, where they may be seen (at Middelburg) walking with perfect composure in a crowded vegetable - market. Storks build their nests in pine, fir, cedar, and other coniferous trees, but seem to prefer lofty old buildings, towers, and ruins: there are always several located on the tops of the isolated pillars at Persepolis; and they often obstruct the muezzins by nestling in their way alwut the summits of the minarets which these servants of the mosques must ascend to call the congregation to praj'er. Several modern writers still assert the filial affection of j'oung storks, which they describe as assist- ing their aged parents when they cannot an_y longer fly with vigor, and as bringing them food when unable to provide for themselves. Without entirely rejecting the fact of affectionate relations among these birds, it may be remarked that storks live to a good old age; and as the}' have a brood (sometimes two) every year, the question is, which of these takes charge of the decrepit parents? It cannot be the youngest, not as yet of suffi- cient strength, nor those of preceding years, which are no longer in their company. Besides, the weaker birds remain and breed in the south. ]May it not be conject- ured that much of this belief is derived from a fact which travellers have had an opportunity of witness- ing, though they could not distinguish whether the flight was composed of cranes or storks? On an exceed- ingly stormy day, when their southward course has Ijeen suddenly opposed by a contrary gale, may be seen a column of birds still persisting in their toil, but at a lower elevation, and changing their worn-out leader; and the Ijird, on taking his station in the rear, is clear- ly attended for a moment liy tliree or four others of the taut, who quit their sUtions as if to help him to reach the wake of the line. With regard to the snake-eat- ing Iial)it8 of the species, the marabou, or adjutant-bird of India, often classed with storks, is undoubtedly a KTcat devourer of serpents, but not so much so as the common peacock, and that domestic fowls are active destroyers of the young of reptiles may be observed even in Knglnnd, where they carry off anil devour small vipers. The chief resort, however, of storks, for above half the year, is in climates where 8er|)cnts do not abound ; and they seem at all times to prefer eels, frogs, t4iad<(, n.-wi.s, and lizards, which sullicicntly accoinits fi»r their U-ing regarded as unclean (perhaps no bird sacred in Kgypt was held clean by the Hebrew law). Storka feed alao on field-mice; but they do uot appear