682 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



when it fell under the spell of Winter's wand, and Avriiig from them one 

 by one the secret of their relationship to man — framing the pass-words 

 by which we are to know whether they belong among his friends or foes. 

 The use of ice should, and doubtless will, become more and more 

 universal and liberal as time goes on, and w'e may unreservedly hail as 

 a triumph of enterprise and skill, and a cherished factor in the advance- 

 ment of man's weal, the advent and growth of our New Age of Ice. 



FLAMINGOES AT HOME. 



By henry a. BLAKE. 



I DO not know if much has been written on the subject of the breed- 

 ing of flamingoes, or if their habits have been closely examined ; 

 but I have a distinct recollection of a print in a book on natural his- 

 tory read by me many years ago, where the flamingo is depicted strad- 

 dling on a very high nest, with the legs hanging down on either side. 

 I have always thought this to be rather a peculiar w'ay of sitting dur- 

 ing incubation, and, finding that the birds bred in large numbers in 

 the islands of Inagua, Andros, and Abaco, I determined to satisfy 

 myself by personal observation as to the manner in which these birds 

 sit on their eggs while hatching. 



The flamingoes are very shy, and are only found in the remote 

 and rarely-visited lagoons. When seen in flocks of some hundreds 

 standing in long lines, they look at a distance like battalions of 

 British troops on parade, their brilliant pink plumage showing up 

 well against the dark-green mangroves with which the lagoons are 

 generally fringed. 



In May they begin to repair the old nests, or to raise new ones, 

 which is done by scooping up the surrounding mud with the beak, 

 while they stand on the nest and pat it into shape and proper con- 

 sistency with the foot. It is no mere treading on the mud, but one 

 foot is used at a time, and the sounding slaps Avith which the cones 

 of mud are got into shape can be heard at a considerable distance. 



The nests are always grouped close together, sometimes as many 

 as four hundred being found in a "rookery." They stand from three 

 to four feet apart, tlie area occupied by each nest being about twelve 

 square feet. The birds do not always return to the same breeding- 

 place, and if disturbed much while breeding, or if the very young 

 birds are taken from the nest, they w^ill probably breed next year in 

 some other rookery, many of which are to be found in the least ac- 

 cessible parts of the great stretches of swamps. 



Having settled upon their breeding-ground for the year, the old 

 nests are at once taken possession of by the oldest or strongest bii'ds, 

 who proceed to repair them by adding to the top the inch or more 



