FOOD FOR THE STORKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOOD FOR THE STORKS.

A writer in the "Children's Newspaper" tells the following story of the Polish country people's, friendly feeling to the storks. A mild spell of January weather seems to have deceived the storks, for they arrived back in Poland earlier than usual, only to iind that they had made a great mistake. There was no food anywhere, and instead there were such snow-storms and frost that the storks crept miserably into the, farm sheds and the backyards of cottages, and stood on one leg wondering what to do, till at last the peasants could bear the sight no longer. They opened their barns and granaries, boiled sacks of potatoes, and fed the storks on them. It was strange food for storks, but they swallowed it gratefully, and some became so tame that they would feed, from the hands held out to them.

This pleased the country people very much, for storks bring prosperity, they say, and they felt they were making influential friends for the future. Now the usual date for the storks to appear has arrived, and with it the milder weather. The stork* have forgotten all about their mistake and are busy spring cleaning their old nests; and the peasants, watching these great birds on their rooftops, hope they have not also forgotten who were their friends when times were hard.