THE WHALE-HEADED STORK.


[Illustration: THE WHALE-HEADED STORK--BALÆNICEPS REX.]

Of all the wonders that inhabit the vast continent of Africa, the most
singular one is undoubtedly the _Balæniceps_, or whale-headed stork.
It is of relatively recent discovery, and the first description of it
was given by Gould in the early part of 1851. It is at present still
extremely rare. The Paris Museum possesses three specimens of it, and
the Boulogne Museum possesses one. These birds always excite the
curiosity of the public by their strange aspect. At first sight, says
W.P. Parker, in his notes upon the osteology of the balæniceps, this
bird recalls the boatbill, the heron, and the adjutant. Other birds,
too, suggest themselves to the mind, such as the pelican, the toucan,
the hornbills, and the podarges. The curious form of the bill, in
fact, explains this comparison with birds belonging to so different
groups, and the balæniceps would merit the name of boatbill equally
well with the bird so called, since its bill recalls the small fishing
boats that we observe keel upward high and dry on our seashores. This
bill is ten inches in length, and four inches in breadth at the base.
The upper mandible, which is strongly convex, exhibits upon its median
line a slight ridge, which is quite wide at its origin, and then
continues to decrease and becomes sensibly depressed as far as to the
center of its length, and afterward rises on approaching the anterior
extremity, where it terminates in a powerful hook, which seems to form