142 



BRANCH VERTEBRATA. 



FIG. 241. 



feeds upon aquatic roots. The stroke of its wing is 

 powerful enough to fracture a man's leg. Swans fly 

 high in their migration, to keep "the sky" of rapacious 



birds. They are said to 

 live a hundred years.* 



The Flamingo^ when 

 feeding, lays the upper part 

 of its bill next the ground, 

 and with its feet stirs up 

 the mud for small fish, in- 

 sects, and seeds, which it 

 secures by straining 

 through its lamellae. J Its 

 plumage is a deep scarlet 

 on the back, and roseate 

 on the wings. Different 

 observers since 1881, have 

 exploded the old tradition of its building a hillock of mud 

 as high as its body, and on the top making its nest and 

 laying its eggs, its long legs hanging down on each side, 

 and shown that it constructs a nest of mud only three 

 or four inches high, and sits upon it like other birds. 



P/ue ni cop' te rus ru' her. Flamingo. ( J ff .) 



ORDER ALECTORIDES (a lek to'ri dez). 



This order includes forms quite diverse in structure 

 and habits. 



* Both species of the American Swan (see page 141) have similar convolutions 

 of the trachea in the keel of the sternum, but the convolution of ('. buccinator be- 

 ing more complex than that of C. americanus, renders its voice more raucous. 



t The Flamingo, with its heron-like legs but full-webbed toes, eases the tran- 

 sition from the swimmers to the waders. So many of its characteristics are com- 

 mon to both, that it has been tossed back and forth from the days of Linnaeus 

 to the present, nor is it certain where it will be allowed to rest. 



$ Its tongue is very fleshy, and, during the days of Rome's extravagance, her 

 gluttons were wont to parmlr :i dish composed of Flamingoes' tongues. 



