The Stork

(mercy, compassion) (Jer. 8:7). In the Septuagint it is read as erodios (heron) — a migratory bird of the crane kind, only larger; it feeds on insects and frogs, and in the Book of Leviticus (11:19) is classed among the unclean birds. The stork has long legs, with which it forages for food in marshes and places abounding in water. The bird’s beak is so formed that it can easily hold slippery prey; it builds its nests sometimes in trees: “as for the stork, the fir trees are her house” (Ps. 103 [104]:17), and sometimes on tall, half-ruined towers.

The stork’s character is marked by gentleness and affection. This is especially noticeable in the young in relation to the old birds. In autumn storks fly away to a hot climate, as is indicated in a certain way in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah: “the stork in the heaven,” says the prophet, “knoweth her appointed times” (8:7), and in spring they return again and settle into their nests.