190 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



Thanks to Mr. Abel Chapman, Colonel Willoughby Verner, and 

 others, a good deal more is known now than formerly regarding the 

 nesting of this interesting species. Mr. Chapman was the first to 

 ascertain that the bird sits on its nest with its legs doubled up under 

 its body, and not stretched out, one on each side of the nest, as had 

 been previously wrongly asserted, and actually figured in drawings. 

 The Flamingo breeds iu large communities, and in localities where 

 the water is very shallow, constructing a large conical-shaped nest of 

 nnid, wide at the bottom and tapering at the top, the height of the 

 nest varying, as a rule, from one to two feet, according to the depth 

 of the water and its liability to a rise in level. The eggs, which in 

 Europe are usually laid towards the end of May, are deposited in a 

 cavity at the top of the nest. They are two in number, of a chalky 

 white colour, and measure about 90 x .55 mm. 



