i8o 



Bird- Lore 



year older than the otlier, and by the fact that the birds were building 

 fresh nests near numbers of others which were seemingly as good as new. 



The thousands of nests seen were built of mud, which the nests in pro- 

 cess of construction showed was scooped up from about their base. In fact, 

 it is difficult to conceive of a Flamingo carrying mud. In selecting a nest- 

 ing site, therefore, the bird is governed by the condition of the ground, 

 which, to be serviceable, must be soft and muddy. For this reason, as I 

 have suggested, the time of the breeding season may be regulated by that of 



FLAMINGO NESTS AMONG MANGROVES 

 Believed to have been occupied in igoi 



the rainy season ; the heavy, tropical downpours not only moistening the 

 earth but doubtless raising the water sufficiently, in this exceedingly low, flat 

 country, slightly to flood large areas. While the birds, therefore, must 

 build near, or, indeed, in the water, they guard against complete sub- 

 mergence of their home by building it high enough to protect the egg from 

 possible danger. The popular conception of a Flamingo's nest makes it not 

 more than six or eight inches in diameter at the base, whence it tapers to a 

 truncate, hollowed top nearly two feet in height. I saw no nest, how- 

 ever, over twelve inches high, and most of them were not over eight inches 

 high. The average basal diameter was about thirteen inches, that of the 

 top about ten inches. 



