THE FLAMINGO 97 



But it is unfair to laugh at good Bishop Stanley. 

 His statement that the flamingo sits astride its nest 

 is not nearly so ridiculous as Mr. A. Thayer's assertion 

 that crocodiles mistake the flamingo for a sunset ! 

 Mr. Thayer is an American artist who is obsessed 

 by the theory that, amid their natural surroundings, 

 all birds and beasts are obliteratively coloured, so 

 as to be completely invisible. Instead of meeting 

 with the ridicule it deserves, this utterly preposter- 

 ous theory appears to be accepted by some British 

 zoologists ! 



Two eggs are usually laid by the flamingo, but 

 only one seems to be hatched in the great majority 

 of cases. 



Baby flamingos are covered with greyish down, and 

 have normally shaped bills, which, however, at an 

 early age assume the curious form so characteristic 

 of the adult. 



