THE AMERICAN FLAMINGO. 233 
it were every beat of their wings; and as they were 
rapidly advancing toward us, Captain D. A. Y., who 
was aware of my anxiety to procure some, had every 
man stowed away out of sight, and our gunners in 
readiness. The pilot, Mr. Egan, proposed to offer the 
first taste of his ‘ groceries’ to the leader of the band. 
He was a first-rate shot, and had already killed many 
Flamingoes. The birds were now, as I thought, 
within a hundred and fifty yards; when suddenly, to 
our extreme disappointment, their chief veered away, 
and was of course followed by the rest. Mr. Egan, 
however, assured us that they would fly round the 
Key, and alight not far from us, in less than ten 
minutes ; which in fact they did, although to me these 
minutes seemed almost hours. ‘Now they come,’ 
said the pilot; ‘keep low.’ This we did; but, alas! 
the Flamingoes were all, as I suppose, very old and 
experienced birds, with the exception of one; for on 
turning round the lower end of the Key, they spied 
our boat, again sailed away without flapping their 
wings, and alighted about four hundred yards from 
us, and upward of one hundred from the shore, on 
a ‘soap-flat’ of vast extent, where neither boat nor 
man could approach them.” 
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