ARGENTINE FLAMINGO 129 
on so scanty a fare this large bird not only supports 
itself but becomes excessively fat. I spent half a 
winter in Patagonia at a house built on the borders 
of a small lake, and regularly every night a small 
flock of Flamingoes came to feed in the water about 
200 yards from the back of the house. I used to open 
the window to listen to them, and the noise made 
by their beaks was continuous and resembled the 
sound produced by wringing out a wet cloth. They 
feed a great deal by day, but much more, I think, by 
night. 
Where they are never persecuted they are tame 
birds, and when a flock is fired into and one bird 
killed, the other birds, though apparently much 
astonished, do not fly away. They are silent birds, 
but not actually dumb, having a low, hoarse cry, 
uttered sometimes at the moment of taking flight ; 
also another cry which I have only heard from a 
wounded bird, resembling the gobbling of a turkey- 
cock, only shriller. They are almost invariably seen 
standing in the water, even when not feeding, and 
even seem to sleep there ; on land they have a very 
singular appearance, their immense height, in pro- 
portion to their bulk, giving them an appearance 
amongst birds something like that of the giraffe 
amongst mammals. To the lakes and water-courses 
in the midst of the grey scenery of Patagonia they 
seem to give a strange glory, while standing motion- 
less, their tall rose-coloured forms mirrored in the 
dark water, but chiefly when they rise in a long 
crimson train or phalanx, flying low over the surface. 
I II 
