NON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 189 



this species in the Ethiopian region still remains un- 

 determined, but the bird is known to nest in Central 

 Africa. 



Breeding habits : In most if not all parts of its 

 range the Flamingo appears to be migratory, but the 

 dates of its annual movements have been little recorded. 

 The favourite breeding haunts of this bird are vast mud 

 flats and the low islands in deltas — the low flat shores 

 of lakes and inland seas where the water is shallow. Of 

 the pairing habits of the Flamingo nothing appears to 

 have been observed. At all seasons it is a gregarious 

 bird, and seems always to breed in colonies of varying 

 size. By far the best description of the breeding habits 

 of this interesting bird is that recorded in the Ibis by 

 Mr. Abel Chapman, who visited a vast colony in the 

 marismas of the Guadalquivir. The colony was situated 

 on some low mud islands, and long before the nests 

 were reached "the strange forms," says Mr. Chapman, 

 " of hundreds of Flamingoes met one's eye in every 

 direction — some in groups or in dense masses, others 

 with rigidly outstretched neck and legs flying in short 

 strings, or larger flights '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. 

 But the most extraordinary effect was produced by the 

 more distant herds, the immense numbers of which 

 formed an almost unbroken white horizon, a sort of thin 

 white line separating sea and sky round a great part of 

 the circle." He further writes : " On reaching the spot 

 we found a perfect mass of nests ; the low mud plateau 

 was crowded with them as thickly as the space permitted. 

 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 merely circular bulwarks of mud, 

 with the impression of the bird's legs distinctly marked 



