92 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



known as Phcenicopterus roseus and P. minor, or the 

 common and the lesser flamingo. As the former is 

 the one most often seen in India let us concentrate 

 our attention on it. It is as tall as many a man, 

 and measures over four feet from the tip of the beak 

 to the end of the tail. Of these four feet the greater 

 portion consists of neck, which is very supple ; a 

 flamingo when preening its feathers often twists the 

 neck so that it assumes the shape of a figure of eight. 

 The general hue of the bird is white tipped with rosy 

 pink ; the wings are crimson and black, hence the 

 appropriate scientific name, Phcenicopterus, wings of 

 flame. The bill is pale pink, tipped with black, while 

 the legs are reddish pink. 



Every Anglo-Indian has seen flamingos in the wild 

 state, if not in India, at any rate from the deck of 

 a ship as it crept through the Suez Canal. The shallow 

 lakes and lagoons in the vicinity of the Canal abound 

 with flamingos. These beautiful birds are to be seen 

 in numbers throughout the cold weather in the shallow 

 lakes and backwaters round about Madras. Flamingos 

 are very numerous in Ceylon, where they are known 

 to the Singalese as the " Enghsh Soldier Birds " on 

 account of their " crimson tunics " and upright 

 martial bearing. 



A flock of flamingos is a fine spectacle. Some years 

 ago I saw near the Pulicat Lake about two hundred 

 of these birds. They were perhaps half a mile 

 from the house-boat. Their white bodies showed up 

 well against a background of blue water. Some of 

 them were feeding with heads underwater, others 



