THE FLAMINGO. 355 



and preserved, in 1832. It was first seen early in May, 

 feeding at low water, in company with some Herons, on 

 the marine productions left by the tide, but was so shy 

 that some weeks had elapsed before it was killed, at 

 three o'clock in the morning, by a man who had marked 

 its roosting-place on a small rocky island, accessible only 

 on foot at low water. Another was also killed about 

 this time, at no great distance from the same place. 

 When rising from the ground, it always made several 

 wide circles before getting into full flight. It was very 

 shy, and never could be approached nearer than one 

 hundred yards. 



The Flamingo is by far the most striking of these 

 three genera; its scientific name is Phoenicopterus, from 

 two Greek words, signifying "wings of flame," their 

 beautiful carnation colour contrasting with the plumes 

 of the neck and body, which in one species are of deli- 

 cate white. It is a most extraordinary bird. Its legs 

 are of an excessive length, and so slender, that at a little 

 distance, standing, as they usually do, on one alone, it is 

 not easily seen, and the bird appears as if stationary in 

 the air. But the chief singularity is in the bill, which 

 the annexed figure wilt ex- 

 plain better than any verbal 

 description. With this mis- 

 shapen instrument, it would 

 appear, that the act of col- 

 lecting food must be an affair 

 of some difficulty an opinion 

 rather confirmed by the still Beak oi the Flamingo. 

 more extraordinary manner in which it feeds. On look- 

 ing at the plate, it will be seen, that owing to the sudden 

 curvature, or almost broken and deformed appearance 

 of the beak, food, collected in the usual way, must natu- 

 rally drop from the mouth ; and so it would, if the bird 

 fed as other birds do ; but it adopts its own method, by 

 turning its head and scooping up the soft substances on 

 which it preys, using the upper mandible as a sort of 



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