FLAMINGO. 249 



inasmuch as no competent observer had succeeded until the 

 year 1883, in watching the manner in which the Flamingo 

 performed the task of incubation. Eggs have indeed been 

 obtained by the bushel, but the wariness of the birds pre- 

 cluded any trustworthy account, until the visit of Mr. Abel 

 Chapman to a large colony near the mouth of the Guadal- 

 quivir. The following is extracted from his narrative pub- 

 lished in 'The Ibis' for 1884 (pp. 86-89), with which an 

 illustration of the sitting bird is given from sketches made 

 on the spot : — 



" The islands were about six miles distant from the low 

 shores of the ' marisma,' and at that distance no land what- 

 ever was in sight. The only relief from the monotony of 

 endless wastes of water were the birds ; a shrieking, clamour- 

 ing crowd hung overhead, while only a few yards oft' the 

 surface was dotted with troops of Stilts, sedately stalking 

 about, knee-deep. Beyond these the strange forms of hun- 

 dreds of Flamingoes met one's eye in every direction : 

 some in groups or in dense masses, others with rigidly 

 outstretched neck and legs, fl}'ing in short strings or larger 

 flights ' glinting ' in the sunlight like a pink cloud. Many 

 pairs of old red birds were observed to be accompanied by a 

 single white (immature) one. On examining narrowly the 

 diff'erent herds, there was an obvious dissimilarity in the 

 appearance of certain groups : one or two in particular 

 seemed so much denser than the others ; the narrow white 

 line appeared at least three times as thick, and in the centre 

 it looked as if the birds were literally piled upon each other. 

 Felipe suggested that these birds must be at their ' pajarera,' 

 or breeding-place ; and after a long ride through rather deep 

 water we found that this was so. On our approach, the 

 cause of the peculiar appearance of the herd from a distance 

 became clearly discernible. Many of the birds were sitting 

 down on a low mud island ; some were standing on it, and 

 others, again, were in the water. Thus the different eleva- 

 tions of their bodies formed what had appeared a triple or 

 quadruple line. 



" On reaching the spot, we found a perfect mass of nests ; 



VOL. IV. K K 



