The Dutch fairies knew nothing of the habits of the bird and scarcely
imagined how such a creature might look, but they heard many pleasant
things about the stork's good character. The wise bird had an excellent
reputation, not only for being kind to its young, but also for attending
to the wants of its parents, when they were old. It was even said that
in some countries the stork was the symbol for filial piety.

So the fairies of all the Netherlands despatched a delegation to Egypt
and a congress of storks was called to consider this invitation to go
west. Messengers were at once sent to all the red-legged birds, among
the bulrushes of the Nile, or that lived on the roofs of the temples, or
that perched on the pyramids, or dwelt on the top of old columns, or
that stood in rows along the eaves of the town houses. The town birds
gained their living by acting as street cleaners, but the river birds
made their meals chiefly on fish, frogs, and mice.

The invitation was discussed in stork meeting, and it was unanimously
accepted; except by some old grannies and grandpops that feared in the
strange land they would not be well fed. On a second motion, it was
agreed that only the strongest birds should attempt the flight. Those
afraid, or too weak to go, must stay behind and attend to the old folks.
Such a rattle of mandibles was never heard in Egypt before, as when this
stork meeting adjourned.

Now when storks travel, they go in flocks. Thousands of them left Egypt
together. High in the air, with their broad wings spread and their long
legs stretched out behind them, they covered Europe in a few hours. Then
they scattered all over the marshy lands of the new country. It was
agreed that each pair was to find its own home. When the cold autumn
should come, they were to assemble again for flight to Egypt.

It was a new sight for the fairies, the frogs and the men, to look over
the landscape and see these snow white strangers. They were so pretty to
look at, while promenading over the meadows, wading in the ponds and
ditches, or standing silently by the river banks. Soon, however, these
foreign birds were very unpopular in bullfrog land, and as for the
snakes, they thought that Holland would be ruined by these hungry
strangers. On the other hand, it was good news, in fairy-land, that all
fairies could dance safely on their meadow rings, for the bullfrogs were
now afraid to venture in the grass, lest they should be gobbled up, for
the frogs could not hide from the storks. The new birds could poke their
big bills so far into the mud-holes, that no frog, or snake, big or
little, was safe. The stork's red legs were so long, and the birds could
wade in such deep water, that hundreds of frogs were soon eaten up, and
there were many widows and orphans in the ponds and puddles.

When the fairies got more acquainted with their new guests, and saw how
they behaved, they nearly died of laughing. They were not surprised at
their diet, or eating habits, but they soon discovered that the storks
were not song birds. Instead of having voices, they seemed to talk to
each other by clattering their long jaws, or snapping their mandibles
together. Their snowy plumage--all being white but their wing
feathers--was admired, was envied, and their long bright colored legs
were a wonder. At first the fairies thought their guests wore red
stockings and they thought how heavy must be the laundry work on wash
days; for in Holland, everything must be clean.

Of all creatures on earth, as the fairies thought, the funniest was seen
when Mr. Stork was in love. To attract and please his lady love, he made
the most grotesque gestures. He would leap up from the ground and move
with a hop, skip, and jump. Then he spread out his wings, as if to hug
his beloved. Then he danced around her, as if he were filled with wine.
All the time he made the best music he knew how, by clattering his
mandibles together. He intended this performance for a sort of love
ditty, or serenade. The whole program was more amusing than anything
that an ape, goat, or donkey could get up. How the fairies did laugh!

Yet the fairies were very grateful to the storks for ridding their
meadows of so much vermin. How these delicate looking, snow white and
graceful creatures could put so many snails, snakes, tadpoles, and toads
into their stomachs and turn them into snow white feathers, wonderful
wings and long legs, as red as a rose, was a mystery to them. It seemed
more wonderful than anything which they could do, but as fairies have no
stomachs and do not eat, this whole matter of digestion was a mystery to
them.

Besides the terror and gloom in the frog world, every reptile winced and
squirmed, when he heard of this new enemy. All crawlers, creepers, and
jumpers had so long imagined that the land was theirs and had been made
solely for their benefit! Nor did they know how to conquer the storks.
The frog daddies could do nothing, and the frog mothers were every
moment afraid to let either the tadpoles or froggies go out of their
sight. They worried lest they should see their babies caught up in a
pair of long, bony jaws, as sharp as scissors, there to wriggle and
crow, until their darlings disappeared within the monster.

One anecdote of the many that were long told in the old Dutch frog ponds
was this: showing into what clangers curiosity may lead youngsters. We
put it in quotation marks to show that it was told as a true story, and
not printed in a book, or made up.

"A tadpole often teased its froggy mother to let it go and see a red
pole, of which it had heard from a traveller. Mrs. Frog would not at
first let her son go, but promised that as soon as the tadpole lost his
tail, and his flippers had turned into fore legs, and his hind quarters
had properly sprouted, so that he could hop out of danger, he might then
venture on his travels. She warned him, however, not to go too near to
that curious red pole, of which he had heard. Nobody as yet found out
just what this red thing, standing in the water, was; but danger was
suspected by old heads, and all little froggies were warned to be
careful and keep away. In reality, the red stick was the leg of a stork,
sound asleep, for it was taking its usual afternoon nap. The frogs on
the bank, and those in the pool that held their noses above water, to
get their breath, had never before seen anything like this red stilt, or
its cross pole; for no bird of this sort had ever before flown into
their neighborhood. They never suspected that it was a stork, with its
legs shaped like the figure four (4). Indeed, they knew nothing of its
long bill, that could open and shut like a trap, catching a frog or
snake, and swallowing it in a moment.

"Unfortunately for this uneducated young frog, that had never travelled
from home, it now went too near the red pole, and, to show how brave it
was, rubbed its nose against the queer thing. Suddenly the horrible
creature, that had only been asleep, woke up and snapped its jaws. In a
moment, a wriggling froggy disappeared from sight into the stomach of a
monster, that had two red legs, instead of one. At the sight of such
gluttony, there was an awful splash, for a whole row of frogs had jumped
from the bank into the pool. After this, it was evident that Holland was
not to belong entirely to the frogs."

As for the human beings, they were so happy over the war with the vermin
and the victory of the storks, that they made this bird their pride and
joy. They heaped honors upon the stork as the savior of their country.
They placed boxes on the roofs of their houses for these birds to nest
in. All the old cart wheels in the land were hunted up. They sawed off
the willow trees a few feet above the ground, and set the wheels in
flat, which the storks used as their parlors and dressing rooms.

As for the knights, they placed the figure of the stork on their
shields, banners, and coats of arms, while citizens made this bird
prominent on their city seals. The capital of the country, The Hague,
was dedicated to this bird, and, for all time, a pond was dug within the
city limits, where storks were fed and cared for at the public expense.
Even to-day, many a good story, illustrating the tender affection of The
Hague storks for their young, is told and enjoyed as an example to Dutch
mothers to be the best in the world.

Out in the country at large, in any of the eleven provinces, whenever
they drained a swamp, or pumped out a pond to make a village, it was not
looked upon as a part of Holland, unless there were storks. Even in the
new wild places they planted stakes on the pumped out dry land, called
polders. On the top of these sticks were laid as invitations for the
stork families to come and live with the people. Along the roads they
stuck posts for storks' nests. It became a custom with farmers, when the
storks came back, to kill the fatted calf, or lamb, and leave the refuse
meat out in the fields for a feast to these bird visitors. A score of
Dutch proverbs exist, all of them complimentary to the bird that loves
babies and cradles.

Last of all, the Dutch children, even in the reign of Queen Wilhelmina,
made letter carriers of their friends the treasure-bringers. Tying tiny
slips of paper to their red legs, they sent messages, in autumn, to the
boys and girls in the old land of the sphinx and pyramids, of Moses, and
the children of Israel. In the spring time, the children's return
messages were received in the country which bids eternal welcome to the
bird named the Bringer of Blessings.

This is why the storks love Holland.

HET EINDE