PHCENICOPTERID^. 193 
Order ANSERES. 
Family Phcenicopterid.'e. 
266. Ph(enicopterus antiquorum, Temm. Flamingo. 
Moorish. Nihof. Spanish. Flamenco. 
Pavier says : — " The Flamingo, near Tangier, passes north- 
wards in April, May, and June, returning in August up to as 
late as December. The females are the first to arrive 
during the autumn migration. The males rejoin their 
mates in November, accompanied by the young of the 
previous year; the young of the year are never seen here. 
They are met with in large flocks on the lakes, always 
staying in the water, though they never swim about, and are 
very wary and difficult to approach. The only month in 
which they are entirely absent is July. Their temporary 
absence during other months is regulated by the quantity of 
water in the lakes ; and as one month is not sufficient time 
for them to lay and hatch their eggs, they ought to nest not 
far from Tangier : indeed an old chasseur, worthy of belief, 
informed me that he had shot one which, when it fell, dropped 
an egg in the water." 
The movements of the Flamingo are certainly very irregular 
and perplexing, and, no doubt, influenced by the amount of 
water in the brackish lagoons which they frequent. Most 
of these lagoons, being formed by rain-water, are brackish 
from the salt contained in the earth, and in very dry seasons 
hold hardly any water. 
In very wet seasons the birds breed in the marismas of the 
Guadalquivir, and are said to nest very late (about June). 
The exact manner of nesting is at present unknown to 
ornithologists ; and he who first finds and describes it 
will have " a feather in his cap." 
The eggs which I have seen are elongated and of a white 
colour, with a chalky surface. 
Flights of Flamingoes are frequently seen passing near 
Gibraltar as early as the 4th of February and as late as the 
o 
