276 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1949 
sumed our relationship where it had broken off with the beginning 
of bad weather the previous fall. 
Another example of the confidence of wild creatures is the case of 
two flying squirrels that are greatly loved guests in our home. They 
have such fondness for both my wife and myself that they want to 
be with us at every opportunity, even to sleeping in our pockets. 
They leap to us as a means of quick locomotion and for the pleasure 
of the leap and glide (pl. 4, fig. 2). Their behaviour has been treated 
at some length in the National Geographic Magazine for May 1947, 
“Flying Squirrels, Nature’s Gliders.” 
OBTAINING FOOD 
The obtaining of food is an ever-present problem for all animals. 
With some it is apparently a very simple process; with others it brings 
into play the use of the special structures with which nature has pro- 
vided them. The food-getting habits of practically every animal 
would make an interesting study, but only a few of the widely differ- 
ent methods can be mentioned here. 
The peculiarly shaped bill of the flamingo (Phoenicopterus), which 
looks as though it had been broken in the middle and the tip bent 
downward, is used in an interesting manner. As will be seen from 
the picture (pl. 7, fig. 1), the bird extends its neck almost straight 
downward, which brings the upper portion of the bill closest to the 
ground. The edge of the bill then scrapes along the ground in very 
shallow water, and the lower mandible opens and closes rapidly. 
The water thus scooped into the mandible is strained between the fine 
laminations of the upper and lower mandibles and then discharged 
after the minute crustaceans on which the flamingo feeds have been 
strained out. 
Relatives of the flamingo are the swans and other water fowl 
(Anatidae), many of which obtain their food in fairly shallow water. 
They eat a wide variety of plant and animal material such as seeds, 
green leaves, tubers, fleshy roots, mollusks, and crustaceans, and a few 
of them eat some fish. When the food is not too far below the surface 
of the water, they “‘tip up’ so that they can extend the neck and head 
to the maximum distance below the surface (pl. 7, fig. 2). Others dive 
for their food. 
Herons (Ardeidae) feed mainly on small fish, frogs, and other 
animal life, which they obtain by standing practically motionless in 
the water and waiting for the unwary victim to come within reach. 
They suddenly extend their long necks to a surprising distance and 
catch the prey before it has a chance to dart away. They may stand 
in such a position for hours at a time waiting for their victims to 
approach. 
