POETRY.

Our Youths' Department.

NATURAL HISTORY.

THE STORK.

THERE are some animals which man regards with a feeling of enmity, and with which he may be said to be constantly at war; but there are others he regards with special favour, taking them under his protection, and in all respects treating them as his friends. Of this latter class are the storks. From the earliest times down to the present, in those countries where storks abound, they have been looked upon with peculiar regard; laws were made for their protection, and those who happened to injure them were held in execration. The name of the stork in the Hebrew language (chasidah), signifying mercy or pity, indicates that in those ancient times when that language was spoken, this bird was looked upon as possessing qualities which are among the highest ornaments even of men, and which we should like to see our youthful readers manifesting on every occasion calculated to call them forth. No doubt, in the present paper we shall be able to bring out a number of facts which will, in a great measure, account for the high estimation in which the stork is held. The stork has much in common with the heron and crane, and, indeed, may easily be confounded with them; it, however, is of a more robust form, the bill is larger, the toes shorter, the nails not being clawed like the others, but flat, like the nails of a man. The crane has a voice so loud and piercing that, when near, it is almost deafening; but the stork is comparatively silent. However, on certain occasions it utters a cry; and when under the influence of fear or anger it makes a clacking noise, by smartly shutting its mandibles. Not fearing man, or shunning his society, as other birds do, the stork takes up his abode amongst human dwellings, and moves about in the thoroughfares of the most crowded towns with as much confidence as our dogs do on the streets. They act the part of scavengers in the various countries where they take up their abode. In Egypt they devour the frogs, which would soon become a plague were they not disposed of in this way; they clear the dykes and marshes of Holland of enormous numbers of reptiles, which would otherwise become an equal source of pestilence; and in India the great

stork, or adjutant, as it is called, finishes the work begun by the jackal and vulture, by swallowing the bones which they have previously cleared of the flesh. It likewise performs good service in the towns, clearing the streets of all offal; the body of a dead dog is soon made to disappear; nor are they very particular as to what they take, as one of them has been known to bolt a large tom-cat entire. These useful services account, in some measure, for the kind treatment they receive in the countries which they frequent. In Holland and Germany boxes are placed on the tops of the houses for them to make their nests in, and happy is the man whose house becomes the home of the stork, as it is there generally believed it will not build its nest on the house of a bad man. In marshy districts, where the services of the bird are of much value in destroying reptiles, the people fix an old cart-wheel by the nave, horizontally, on a long pole, an accommodation which the birds evidently appreciate, as they rarely fail to make use of it on which to construct their nests. In some parts of the East they build on the tall towers that are there found, and as the nest is generally as broad as the summit of the tower, when the bird, which can be seen by all, is sitting upon it the effect is very curious, for both nest and bird seem to be the crowning part of the tower itself. Sometimes, however, they build on the top of trees; this especially is the case in Palestine. In Ps. civ. 17, we read, "As for the stork, the fir trees are her house." In Germany, too, they often build in great numbers in clusters of trees, and during the nesting season, which lasts nearly three months, they guard their homes with great care; for if any creature should happen to go near them they go out to attack it in a body. Their love of their young has been proved on several occasions to be stronger than even the love of life. In the battle of Friedland, where Napoleon I. defeated the Russians and Prussians, a farm near the city was set on fire by the falling of a bomb, and the conflagration extended to an old tree on which a pair of storks had built their nest. It was then the season of incubation, and the mother would not quit the nest until it was completely enveloped in flames; she then flew up perpendicularly, and when she had attained to a great height dashed down into the midst of the fire, as if to save her young; and in one of these descents, being enveloped in flame and smoke, she fell into the midst of the burning embers and perished. In Holland the story is often told that, when the city of Delft was on fire, a female stork in vain attempted several times to carry off her young ones,

and finding she was unable to do so, suffered herself to be burnt with them. When the young are sufficiently strong they take them out of the nest, and practise them in flying; they likewise lead them to the marshes and hedge-sides, and point out to them serpents, and lizards, and frogs, which are their proper food; at the same time they seek out the toads, which they never eat, and take great pains to make the young distinguish them. When the old ones become too feeble to fly, their kind care to the young is fully rewarded, for on their return from their long migratory flights, the old are often seen supported on the backs of the young. The poet, in alluding to this, says :—

"The stork's an emblem of true piety;

Because, when age has seized and made his dam
Unfit for flight, the grateful young one takes
His mother on his back, provides her food,
Repaying thus her tender care of him
Ere he was fit to fly."

Here is a lesson which we hope our young friends will not fail to remember. It is a lovely sight to witness children returning the love of their parents, and making glad their hearts by obedience; but it is sad to see boys and girls disobeying their parents, and grieving their hearts by selfishness and obstinacy. The grey hairs of many a father and mother have been brought with sorrow to the grave by the folly of their children. We do hope none of our young readers will be guilty of such wickedness. Remember God has said, "Honour thy father and mother."

The stork is very watchful over the honour of his home. Of his jealousy towards his mate, Mr. Lee gives us two very striking instances:-" A French surgeon at Smyrna wishing to procure a stork, and finding great difficulty, on account of the extreme veneration in which they are held by the Turks, stole all the eggs out of a nest and replaced them with those of a hen; in process of time the young chickens came forth, much to the astonishment of Mr. and Mrs. Stork. In a short time Mr. Stork went off, and was not seen for two or three days, when he returned with an immense crowd of his companions, who all assembled in the place and formed a circle, taking no notice of the numerous spectators which so unusual an occurrence had collected. Mrs. Stork was brought forward into the midst of the circle, and after some consultation, the whole flock fell upon her and tore her to pieces, after which they immediately dispersed, and the nest was entirely abandoned."