Stork

a wading bird akin to the heron and the bittern. An American stork, frequently called the wood ibis, forty inches long, with greenish black wing covers and tail, breeds as far north as Kansas and New York. The stork of literature and the nursery is an Old World bird, breeding especially in Holland and as far north as Scandinavia. It winters south of the Mediterranean. The prophet Jeremiah says "The stork in the heaven knoweth the appointed time." The stork feeds in fens and lowlands on frogs, eels, small fishes, snakes, mice, and offal. In the Netherlands it destroys animals that weaken the dikes. It is protected by law. Many cities of the Low Countries encourage the stork as a public scavenger. The peasantry believe that a stork's nest on the house brings good luck. "The storks have brought a baby brother" or "a baby sister" is the pleasing announcement in a German household. Says Field:

The stork was well known in Palestine, being held as a clean bird. The psalmist says, "As for the stork, the fir trees are her house."