252 PHCENICOPTERID^. 



croaks ; then the hundreds of necks rise at once to the full 

 extent, every bird gaggling its loudest, as they walk obliquely 

 away, looking back over their shoulders as though to take 

 stock of the extent of the danger. Pushing a few yards 

 forward, up they all rise, and a more beautiful sight cannot 

 be imagined than the simultaneous spreading of their crimson 

 wings, flashing against the sky like a gleam of rosy light. 

 In many respects these birds bear a strong resemblance to 

 Geese. Like them. Flamingoes feed by day ; and great 

 quantities of grass, &c., are always floating about the muddy 

 water where a herd has been feeding. Their cry is almost 

 undistinguishable from the gaggling of Geese, and they fly 

 in the same catenarian formations." 



Another particular in which the Flamingoes resemble the 

 Geese and Ducks is in their moult, which appears to take 

 place earlier and to be more simultaneous in the males than 

 it is in the females. Wiirderaann, who describes the run- 

 ning-down and capture of a number of Ph. ruber on the 

 Florida Cays, states that out of eight birds selected for 

 skinning, only one proved to be a female. 



In the adult the entire plumage except the wings is rosy- 

 white ; the quill-feathers black ; the upper and under wing- 

 coverts light scarlet, passing into rosy-white on the inner 

 webs ; scapulars lanceolate and drooping ; iris pale lemon- 

 yellow ; bare skin next the eye yellow ; bill rosy-red at the 

 base, the terminal portion black ; legs and feet pinkish-red, 

 brighter at the tarsal joint. 



In the young of the first year the pink is absent, with the 

 exception of a slight trace of it on the wings ; the secondaries 

 are irregularly barred with black, and the bill, eyes, and legs 

 are of a dull lead-colour. The nestling is covered with a 

 whitish down, tinged with grey on the upper parts. 



In size there is considerable variation, irrespective of sex. 

 Mr. Chapman says that the largest he measured was fully 

 6 feet 5 inches in length, whilst others (old red birds), barely 

 reached 5 feet. The wing from the carpal joint to the tip 

 averages 16 inches. 



