THE FLAMINGO 93 



stood as erect as soldiers at attention and as motion- 

 less as statues ; a few were moving with great pre- 

 cision, like recruits under training. Portions of the 

 flock were congregated in small groups, apparently 

 in solemn conclave. Dignity and solemnity are the 

 distinguishing features of the flamingo. After watching 

 the flock for fully half an hour I fired a gun. I did 

 not try to kill any of them. They were out of range. 

 I fired because I wanted to see the birds take to their 

 wings, to see them rise like a " glorious exhalation." 

 The report of the gun seemed to cause no alarm. 

 There was none of that fluster and hurry that most 

 birds display when they hear the sound of firing. 

 The flamingos rose in a stately manner ; they did not 

 all leave the water simultaneously. The birds took to 

 their wngs by twos and threes, so that it was not until 

 more than a minute after the firing of the gun that all 

 of them were in the air. As their wings opened the 

 colour of the birds changed from white to crimson, 

 the latter being the hue of the lining of their wdngs. 

 It was as if red limelight had been thrown on to the 

 whole flock. 



During flight, the long white neck, that terminates 

 in the pink-and-black bill, is stretched out in front, 

 and the pink legs point behind, so that the neck and 

 legs form one straight line, broken by the crimson 

 wings, which are flapped very slowly. The great 

 birds sailed thus majestically for a few hundred 

 yards and then sank to the water. 



^^^en flamingos are about to alight the legs leave 

 the horizontal position assumed during flight and 



