BIRDS FROM SOUTH FLORIDA. 429 



them up as well as I could. Presently we came up to the main body, 

 which amounted to about one hundred birds, all closely huddled to- 

 gether, so that two discharges of my gun would probably have left 

 none of them alive. The captain seized two and three of them at a 

 time, and when I remarked that our boat was filled, he suddenly 

 jumped overboard on top of the flamingoes, embracing a number with 

 his arms at once, whilst the rest were allowed to depart in peace. 

 Having tied their legs, they were thrown upon the others, forward, 

 amidship, and aft, to keep them down. Thus were more than a hun- 

 dred of these unfortunate birds packed away in the little canoe, with- 

 out regard to their comfort or their lives. We were so laden down 

 that the sail could not be used. I had to sit upon the center-board, 

 resting my feet on the gunwale to avoid injuring the birds, which were 

 struggling, flapping their wings, and covering everything with their 

 blood ; scarcely one of them escaped injury. The boat had to be shoved 

 back to where we left the other at anchor, arriving there about sunset. 

 Many of the birds had died, and some were drowned in the bottom of 

 the canoe, which began to fill. 



Considering myself a passenger, I laid no claim to what we had 

 captured, but offered twelve and a half cents for every dead bird I 

 should skin. This was accepted. Picking out some of the cleanest 

 ones, I skinned them on the way home, knowing they could not keep 

 till the next clay. The birds were very fat, and being without cotton, 

 their plumage was very much soiled with blood, which I hope can be 

 removed. Arriving home, the live birds were confined in a ten-pin 

 alley, and the dead distributed among the soldiers, wreckers, and 

 others. 



There were not less than five hundred flamingoes assembled where 

 the last were taken. We must have been close to the main land, 

 which was shut out of our view by the numerous keys. 



The flamingoes congregate in the shallow waters before mentioned. 

 Their food consists of a small shell fish of the form of a clam, which 

 they fish up from the muddy banks, no other kind of food being found 

 in their craws. They are always seen in flocks, and their notes sound 

 at a distance like those of wild geese ; but when captured, they emit 

 a low single note like a crane when suddenly started. Whilst in con- 

 finement one of them hollowed like a domestic goose when calling for 

 its mate, which was answered by another bird in notes similar to those 

 of a gander, so that from their cries one would have supposed them to 

 be a flock of domestic geese, instead of flamingoes. 



They were fed on rice and fresh water while they were prisoners, 

 but declined to touch it as long as they were watched. 



Of eight birds which I had an opportunity to examine, only one 

 proved to be a female. This bird's neck came off while I was prepar- 

 ing it, but still I shall send it as it is. The black feathers under her 

 wings being large, it is probable that the females moult before the 

 males. It seems almost" as if nature had not done this bird full justice 

 in not giving it the means to protect itself while shedding its feathers, 

 as it then falls an easy prey to its enemies, which must eventually lead 

 to its extermination. 



It required the greatest care to prevent the insects from destroying 



