202 



THE MUSEUM. 



an opening under the ice, and through 

 this opening the lake was drained; the 

 onward motion of the glacier compen- 

 sating for its loss by erosion, and its 

 weight combined with the enormous 

 pressure of the waters of the lake caus- 

 ed the soft rock beneath to be rapidly 

 cut away, thus simultaneously drained 

 both lakes. This conclusion is 

 strengthened by the fact, that at 

 numerons points in its course the river 

 flows over ledges of rock, similar in 

 composition and that in no other 

 place has erosion caused any notice- 

 able result. Moreover it seems to be 

 the most reasonable explanation of 

 the origin and disappearance of the 

 lake, and until a better one is given 

 we shall regard it as substantially 

 correct. 



The American Flamingo- 



By Adolphe B. Covert. 



Flamingoes. Scarlet Flamingoes, 

 strange, beautiful, wierd birds. They 

 are indeed one of the oddities of na- 

 ture's handiwork. I shall never for- 

 get my first meeting with these sin- 

 gular and graceful creatures. I came 

 upon them all unexpected; it was upon 

 the west coast of Florida. We had 

 been drifting and cruising about in an 

 aimless kind of way for some days; 

 the weather was simply glorious, in 

 fact too much so and to judge from 

 myself our little party of natural his- 

 tory tramps were becoming exceed- 

 ingly la^y, and a feeling had appar- 

 ently come over us of not caring what 

 we did or where we went. For some 

 days the time had been spent in idle 

 dreaming, smoking, reading or lolling 

 in our hammocks. Our yacht lay 

 snugly at anchor in a little land- 



locked bay, the stately and beautiful 

 forest trees extended nearly to the 

 water's edge; the sky was all blue 

 with scarcely a cloud to be seen; gen- 

 tle land breezes wafted the sweet 

 scent of flowers to us, the hum of the 

 myriad insects of the woods floated 

 by; all nature seemed to be at peace. 

 The nearby shore, with its dark green 

 forests draped in long gray moss, 

 looked very inviting, but the "Imps 

 of Indolence" had rivited fast their 

 fetters and held us closely to the 

 decks of the yacht. However the ex- 

 perience of other days had taught me 

 that this could not continue long with- 

 out breeding ill-feeling between the 

 members of our little party. 



So one afternoon I resolved to 

 break the fetters and go ashore; three 

 o'clock found me traversing the 

 shore line, all by myself, intent 

 on nothing. Thoughts of Michigan 

 and its forests of pine, of home, of 

 wife and babies, of my canine pets, 

 and my meek-eyed Jerseys, had come 

 over me with these pleasant day- 

 dreams. I had gone perhaps three 

 miles when I concluded to stretch my 

 legs with a short tramp. I had beat 

 inland for a little way and then re- 

 turned to the water's edge. when, how 

 it happened I cannot tell, but there 

 he stood; a beautiful flame-colored 

 bird, a Scarlet Flamingo, not four 

 rods from me. 



Did I shoot? Well I should say no; 

 who thought anything about shooting.^ 

 I did not know that I had a gun. I 

 just stood still and looked and looked 

 again, and considered how I should 

 mount that bird; and he, all uncon- 

 scious of my presence, idly preened 

 his beautiful plumage. Every move- 

 ment was an embodiment of grace 



