Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/696

STORK. white stork (Ciconia alba), a migratory native of the greater part of the Old World, is about three and a half feet in length. The head, neck, and whole body are pure white; the wings partly black; the bill and legs red. The neck is long, and generally carried in an arched form; the feathers of the breast are long and pendulous, and the bird often has its bill half hidden among them. The stork frequents marshy places, feeding on eels and other fishes, batrachians, reptiles, young birds, and small mammals. It makes a rude nest of sticks, reeds, etc., on the tops of tall trees, or of ruins, spires, or disused chimneys. The stork has no voice. Its flight is powerful and very high in the air. The flesh is rank, and not fit for food. Another species, the black stork (Ciconia nigra), rather smaller, the plumage of the upper parts glossy black, the under parts white, is also common in many parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The South American stork (Dissoura maquari) is very similar to the connnon stork.

The only birds of this family occurring in North America are the wood ibises of the Southern States and the (q.v.). They are large birds, three and a half feet long, with the head and neck bare, wings and tail black, and rest of plumage white. They are found in large flocks and nest in colonies. See ; ;  STORM (AS. storm, OHG. sturm, Ger. Sturm, storm; probably connected with Gk., hormē, attack, Skt. sar, to flow, hasten). Any unusual, severe, or destructive atmospheric phenomenon, such as a windstorm, sandstorm, tornado, typhoon, or hurricane, in which the wind is the destructive agent; a rainstorm, hailstorm, or snowstorm, monsoon, cloudburst, or flood, in which the precipitation is the prominent feature; a thunderstorm in which the thunder is impressive and the lightning is destructive; a blizzard, in which the combined cold wind and snow is the prominent feature. All these storms attend the flow of air from areas of high to those of low barometric pressure, or so-called storm centres or ‘lows.’ In general the winds blow around and in toward these low areas, thereby producing still lower barometric pressures near the centre. The lower air, being forced to rise above the earth's surface, expands, cools, and precipitates its excess of moisture, thereby giving us rain, snow, or hail.
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Storms are often classified as attending areas of low pressure (cyclonic storms); or as attending areas of high pressure (anti-cyclonic). In all cases the flow of the air is primarily due to differences of density; the denser air is impelled to the earth's surface and is also pushed toward the equator by gravity. But the centrifugal force due to the diurnal rotation of the earth also pushes the denser air toward the equator harder