THE MUSEUM. 



203 



:and' beauty; now and then he raised 

 his ample wing, showing the jetty 

 black of the primaries and the intense 

 crimson hue of the auxiliary feathers 

 How long this would have lasted I 

 can not say, but an awkward move 

 ■on my part, and with a flash and 

 whirr he was up and off, a flaming 

 meteor against a blue background. 

 He was followed by a second, a third, 

 -a fourth and I do not know how manv 



more; I silently gazed with staring eyes 

 at the long line of scudding scarlet and 

 rushing crimson until they faded from 

 sight in the far distance. 



No, I did not even remember that 

 I possessed a gun; oh no, I did not 

 mount that bird; in fact I never killed 

 a Flamingo, but I have mounted quite 

 a number and that afternoon's lesson 

 was of great value to me. 



The publisher of the Museum sent 

 me, a few years ago, a remarkably 

 fine specimen, a photograph of which 

 forms the illustration which accom- 

 panies this article. 



How it happened that I approached 

 these birds so closely I could never 

 comprehend, but this sometimes does 

 occur. Only last spring I found myself 

 within five rods of a flock of Great 

 Blue Herons and killed a fine male 

 with an ounce of number eight shot 

 in a sixteen guage Parker gun. 



But to return to the Flamingo. 

 Of its home life little is known, the 

 majority of observers not having im- 

 proved their opportunities, or having 

 simply seen the biid at a nistance. 



My old-time friend, that noted Flor- 

 ida collector, Chas. J. Maynard, 

 could tell more of the breeding habits 

 of the Flamingo than any living col- 

 lector and I regard his description of 

 their nest and eggs as being the most 

 accurate of any I have ever read. 



His description of the nest is as 

 follows: "A heap of rubbish, such as 

 decaying vegetables, mud, etc., heap- 

 ed up from twelve to eighteen inches; 

 it is from three to four feet in diam- 

 eter at the base and about two feet 

 across at the top, with a slight hollow 

 to receive the eggs which are two in 

 number, oval in form, bluish in color, 

 covered with a white calcareous de- 



