stork
    n 1: large mostly Old World wading birds typically having white-
         and-black plumage

Stork \Stork\, n. [AS. storc; akin to G. storch, OHG. storah,
   Icel. storkr, Dan. & Sw. stork, and perhaps to Gr. ? a
   vulture.] (Zool.)
   Any one of several species of large wading birds of the
   family Ciconidae, having long legs and a long, pointed
   bill. They are found both in the Old World and in America,
   and belong to Ciconia and several allied genera. The
   European white stork (Ciconia alba) is the best known. It
   commonly makes its nests on the top of a building, a chimney,
   a church spire, or a pillar. The black stork (Ciconia
   nigra) is native of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
   [1913 Webster]

   Black-necked stork, the East Indian jabiru.

   Hair-crested stork, the smaller adjutant of India
      (Leptoptilos Javanica).

   Giant stork, the adjutant.

   Marabou stork. See Marabou. -- Saddle-billed stork, the
      African jabiru. See Jabiru.

   Stork's bill (Bot.), any plant of the genus Pelargonium;
      -- so called in allusion to the beaklike prolongation of
      the axis of the receptacle of its flower. See
      Pelargonium.
      [1913 Webster]

STORK
       Secure indenTity acrOss boRders acKnowledged
       

Stork
   Heb. hasidah, meaning "kindness," indicating thus the character
   of the bird, which is noted for its affection for its young. It
   is in the list of birds forbidden to be eaten by the Levitical
   law (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18). It is like the crane, but larger
   in size. Two species are found in Palestine, the white, which
   are dispersed in pairs over the whole country; and the black,
   which live in marshy places and in great flocks. They migrate to
   Palestine periodically (about the 22nd of March). Jeremiah
   alludes to this (Jer. 8:7). At the appointed time they return
   with unerring sagacity to their old haunts, and re-occupy their
   old nests. "There is a well-authenticated account of the
   devotion of a stork which, at the burning of the town of Delft,
   after repeated and unsuccessful attempts to carry off her young,
   chose rather to remain and perish with them than leave them to
   their fate. Well might the Romans call it the pia avis!"
   
     In Job 39:13 (A.V.), instead of the expression "or wings and
   feathers unto the ostrich" (marg., "the feathers of the stork
   and ostrich"), the Revised Version has "are her pinions and
   feathers kindly" (marg., instead of "kindly," reads "like the
   stork's"). The object of this somewhat obscure verse seems to be
   to point out a contrast between the stork, as distinguished for
   her affection for her young, and the ostrich, as distinguished
   for her indifference.
   
     Zechariah (5:9) alludes to the beauty and power of the stork's
   wings.