156 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



'glinting ' in the sunlight like a pink cloud. Many pairs of old red birds were observed 

 to be accompanied by a single white (immature) one. On examining narrowly the 

 different herds, there was an obvious dissimilarity in the appearance of certain groups: 

 one or two in particular seemed so much denser than the others ; the narrow white 

 line appeared at least three times as thick, and in the centre it looked as if the birds 

 were literally piled upon each other. Felipe suggested that these birds must be at 

 their 'paj are ra,' or breeding-place; and after a long ride through rather deep water 

 we found that this was so. On our approach, the cause of the peculiar appearance of 



the herd from a distance 

 became clearly discerni- 

 ble. Many of the birds 

 were sitting down on a 

 low mud island; some 

 were standing on it, and 



j * 



others, again, were in the 

 water. Thus the differ- 

 ent elevations of their 

 bodies formed what had 

 appeared a triple or quad- 

 ruple line. On reaching 

 the spot we found a per- 

 fect mass of nests ; the 

 low mud plateau was 

 crowded with them as 

 thickly as the space per- 

 mitted. These nests had 

 little or no height: some 

 were raised two or three 

 inches, a few might be 

 five or six inches; but 

 the majority were mere- 



ly circular bulwarks of 

 mud, with the impression 

 of the birds' legs dis- 

 tinctly marked on it. 

 The general aspect of the 



FIG. 76. Pluenicopterus anticpwrum, flamingo. 



plateau was not unlike a large table covered with plates. In the centre was a deep hole 

 full of muddy water, which, from the gouged appearance of its sides, appeared to be 

 used as a reservoir for nest-making materials. Scattered all round this main colony were 

 numerous single nests rising out of the water, and evidently built up from the bottom. 

 Here and there two or three or more of these were joined together, ' semi-detached,' 

 so to speak ; these separate nests rose some six or eight inches above the water-level, 

 and were about fifteen inches across. The water was about twelve or fifteen inches deep. 

 None of these nests as yet contained eggs, and though I returned to the ' pajarera' on the 

 latest day I was in the neighborhood (May 11), they still remained empty. On both 

 occasions many hundreds of flamingos were sitting on their nests, and on the llth 

 we had a good view of them at close quarters. Linked arm and arm with Felipe, and 

 crouching low on the water, to look as little human as possible, we approached within 



