THE HABITS OF THE FLAMINGO, 257 
Flamingoes inhabit the margins of lakes and ponds, more rarely 
the sea-shore. They feed on worms, molluscs, and: the spawn of 
fishes, which they capture by the following stratagem: placing their 
long neck and head in such a position that the upper mandible of 
their bill is the lowest; they stir the mud about in every direction, 
thus easily succeed in disturbing the small fish which have settled in 
it, and capturing them while blended with the thick sediment. They 
also use their feet for working the ooze and detaching the fry and 
spawn, to which they are partial. They love company, and live in 
flocks, which are subject to strict discipline. When they are fishing 
they draw themselves up into long, straight, and regular files, pro- 
tected by sentinels whose office it is to give a signal of alarm on the 
approach of danger. If any cause for uneasiness should arise, the 
scout-birds give a piercing cry, not unlike the note of a trumpet, and 
the whole flock immediately wing their way to a place of security. 
Flamingoes are very shy and timid, and shun all attempts of man 
to approach them; the vicinity of animals, however, they disregard. 
Any one who is acquainted with this fact can take advantage of it, 
for, by dressing himself up in the skin of a horse or an ox, he 
can effect immense slaughter among these beautiful creatures. Thus 
disguised, the sportsman may shoot them down at his ease, so long 
as their enemy is unrecognised ; the noise of the gun only stupefies 
them, so that they refuse to leave, although their companions are 
dropping down dead around them. 
Some authors have asserted that the Flamingo makes use of its 
Jong neck as a third leg, walking with its head resting on the ground 
like a foot. The fact that has doubtless given rise to this-supposition 
is the position of the neck, necessitated by its peculiar method of 
seeking food. We are told about a Flamingo reared in captivity 
which, being accidentally deprived of one of its limbs, found out a 
remedy for its infirmity by walking on one leg and helping itself along 
by means of its bill, using the latter as a crutch; the master of the 
bird, noticing this, fitted it with a wooden leg, which it used with the 
greatest success. But this story, which applies very well to a domes- 
ticated bird which was maimed, and consequently under peculiar con- 
ditions, in no way invalidates our former observations. 
The Flamingo makes itself a nest which is as original as its own 
personal appearance. It consists of a truncated cone, about twenty 
inches in height, and formed of mud dried in the sun. At the 
summit of this little hillock it hollows out a shallow cavity, in which 
the female lays two eggs, rather elongated in shape, and of a dead 
white colour. When she is incubating she sits astride on this novel 
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