FLAMLNGU. ]]:> 



bv the ruwli of hiuulrcdt; of wings with which was iiiiiigk'd the crvs of so iiiaiiv 

 frightened birds that it seemed tor a moment as if pundemoniiim was opened. Altliouah 

 most of the other birds returned to tlie island, we heard no more of tlie Fhimingos that 

 night. I am happv to l)e able to state that a severe fiMght was the onlv injnrv that any 

 of the birds sustained from my shot, for a, careful search made h\ da\ligiit the ne.xt 

 morninu-, when we ai'ose from our ui'ass\- bed by the lake, faileil to re\eal e\en a sino-le 

 loosened feather. 



On February 4tli, my indefatigable guide canio to me witlitlie iiifoi-mation that some 

 Flamingos were visiting a brackish water pond .-^ome ten or tweKe miles* away. We di-ove 

 to the spot, arri\ing just at nightfall, in time to conceal ourselves in some bushes on the 

 margin of the little pond which was some fifty _\ards in diameter, and awaited the 

 coming of the Flamingos. Soon we heard them honking and when it Avas (juite dark 

 many came living past, then four settled in the |iond. followed by the others. As 

 soon as they were down 1 could hear them moving about and drinking, but on account of 

 the darkness, which was augmented by the surrounding foliage, coidd not see a single 

 bird. But a change soon came, for the moon, Avhich was nearly full, and Avhich had 

 hitherto been obscured by a tliick bank of clouds suddeiilx jnished her wa\ upward into 

 the clear sky, illuminating the water in front of me, disclosing the scarlet birds grou[)ed 

 together. A single shot brought down four and another was jncivcd up the next da\- on 

 the savannah by a Creole who was in search (jf wild horses. We got no ukh-c Flamingos 

 that night, but the ne.xt evening, although I was not fortunate enough to procure a 

 single bird, Mr. Sargent, who accompanied me, shot four. 



Since my yisit to the rookery on Andros 1 have been informed l)v His excellency 

 Sir Henry Arthur Blake, governor of Jamaica, who is stationed at the B;diamas, that m\- 

 statement that the Flamingos double their leg.s luider tliem when hitting on their nests 

 hasl)eeri confirmed b_\- his own ol)servations. I amalso ple;ised to be aljle to record tiiat. 

 at my suggestion, Governor Blake presented a hill to the assembly, at Nassau, in which 

 it was propoi-ed to protect Flamingos,, and otiier birds, during ths breeding .-eison. and 

 that the bill passed and l)ecame a law. I was induced to make this suggestion to the 

 govei'uor on account of the information tliat I gathered from the natives nlatixe to the 

 Avholesale destruction of young Flamingos neai'ly every year, especially on Andros, l)v 

 the Creoles, who killed the young. birds, Ijeibre they could lly, for food. 



According to the accounts derived from the Creoles, young Flamingos run nearly as 

 soon as hatched, but possibly this statement cannot be depended upon, as it is probable 

 that these people seldom, if evei', visit the rookerys until the liiids are well grown. 



There is a great similarity between the cries of the Flamingo and those gi\en by the 

 counnon ■wild goose, \et the \ocal ajiparattis of both birds Aaries greatly. While, as .•<een 

 in Fig. 24, B, the bronchial tubes of the Flamingo are very .short, with a small yil)rating 

 tympaniform sin"face, the same tubes in the Canada Goose ai"e very long \\ith a great 

 development of vibrating surface. Sec Fig. ;51. Tlie trachea of the Flamingo is also 

 straiiiht while that of the Goose is bent near the larvn.x. See fig. >U). 



