FLAMINGO. 247 



for its wings were quite perfect, and it was extremely wild 

 and could fly well, taking long flights. I cannot remember 

 much about the weather previous to the bird being seen off" 

 the Beaulieu river, for I only returned home on the 20tli 

 from Scotland ; but there had been a great gale from the 

 south-west about a fortnight before, and it is my belief that 

 the Flamingo had been blown by this gale to the British 

 shores. Whether it came from North Africa or from the 

 south of France (mouth of the Rhone) it is impossible to 

 tell ; but that the bird was a wild one, and had been blown 

 to England by stress of weather, I have no doubt." In this 

 case again there appears to be no evidence that the bird had 

 escaped from confinement. 



Lastly, Capt. G. E. Shelley informs the Editor, that on 

 the 12tli August, 1884, when waiting for the evening flights 

 of Curlews, near New Romney, an adult Flamingo flew past 

 with outstretched neck and legs, in a south-easterly direc- 

 tion, its red wings and black primaries showing clearly in 

 the light of the setting sun ; and his two nephews, who 

 put the bird up, told him that they got within about fifty 

 yards of it while it was feeding by the sea amongst a flock 

 of Gulls. 



As already stated, the Flamingo is an annual visitor to the 

 salt-marshes and brackish lagoons of the south of France ; 

 and M. Roussillon, who has taken hundreds of eggs at the 

 mouth of the Rhone, informs the Editor that in some years 

 from one to two thousand arrive to make their nests on the 

 margins of the etangs ; they do not, however, nest in the 

 same place every year, the amount of water influencing their 

 choice of site ; and they suff"er much from persecution. The 

 same may be said of similar localities at the mouth of the 

 Guadalquivir in the south of Spain ; and Prof. Giglioli 

 believes that a few pairs breed from time to time on the 

 lagoons of the Island of Sardinia, where numbers are found 

 in winter. The species occurs in suitable places throughout 

 the basin of the Mediterranean ; its range extending from 

 the Canaries and the Cape Yerd Islands on the west, across 

 Africa and Asia to Lake Baikal. Southwards it can be 



