Order VI. FLAMINGOES. 



ODONTOGLOSSJE. 



Family 1. FLAMINGOES. Phcenicopterid^e. 1 species. 



Flamingoes might be called long-legged Ducks. Their feet are 

 webbed, and their bill is set with ridges, which serve as sieves or 

 strainers, as do the 'gutters' on a Duck's bill. They are, however, 

 wading birds and their webbed feet are of use in supporting them on 

 the soft mud of shallow lagoons or bays where they search for the fav- 

 orite food of small mollusks. In feeding the flat top of the bill is 

 pressed into the mud when its tip points upward toward the bird's 

 body. Flamingoes fly with the neck and legs stretched to the utmost 

 presenting on the wing a picturesque, but by no means so graceful an 

 appearance as do the Herons. Their voice is a vibrant honking like 

 that of a Goose. 



Order VII. HERONS, STORKS, IBISES, ETC. 



HERODIONES. 



Family 1. SPOONBILLS. Plataleim. 1 species. 



Family 2. IBISES. Ibidid.e. 3 species. 



Family 3. STORKS and WOOD IBISES. Ciconiid^. 1 species. 



Family 4. BITTERNS, HERONS, ETC. Ardkid^. 14 species, 

 3 subspecies. 



The Roseate Spoonbill was formerly a common bird in Florida and 

 along the Gulf coast, but so many have been killed for their plumage 

 that in the United States the species is now exceedingly rare except in 

 the most remote parts of southern Florida. 



Spoonbills build a rude nest of sticks in mangrove bushes or small 

 trees and lay three to five whitish eggs speckled with shades of brown. 



Ibises are usually found in flocks along the shore of lagoons, lakes, 

 etc., or in marshy places. They fly with the neck outstretched and are 

 generally silent. Their nests of reeds, weed stalks, etc., are some- 



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