Hypertext Webster Gateway: "stork"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Stork \Stork\, n. [AS. storc; akin to G. storch, OHG. storah,
Icel. storkr, Dan. & Sw. stork, and perhaps to Gr. ? a
vulture.] (Zo["o]l.)
Any one of several species of large wading birds of the
family {Ciconid[ae]}, 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 ({C. nigra}) is
native of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
{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}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
stork
n : large mostly Old World wading birds typically having
white-and-black plumage
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