

lifCKS. 



m 



it alway> in (hallow water, by bending their Deck*) they lay the upper 

 put of their bill next the (round, their feet being in continual motion 

 up and down in the mud, by which mean* they raise a wnall 

 round Mfi of grain ressmbling millet, which they receive into their 

 bilk ; and a* there if a neeeeaity for their receiving into their mouths 

 ome mud, nature has provided the edges of their bill* with R sieve or 

 teeth like a fine comb, with which they retain the food and reject the 

 mud which taken in with it Thii account I had from persons of 

 credit ; bat I nerer aw them feeding myaelf, and therefore cannot 

 absolutely refute the opinion of other*, who ay they feed on fish, 

 particularly eels, which *eem to be the slippery prey Dr. Grew says 

 that the teeth are contrived to hold." The development of the 

 riuard in this nous make* it very probable that vegetable substance* 

 form part of the diet of the Flamingoes ; but it is not likely that 

 largo fish, or indeed water-animal* of any great sizo, are ordinarily 

 devoured by these bird*. The bill is a colander, admirably ooutrived 

 for separating the nutritious parts, whether animal or vegetable, from 

 Ike mud and other uselem part*. 



The Red Flamingo inhabit) the warmer parU of North America, 

 Peru, Chili, Guyana, coast of Brazil, and the West India Inlands, par- 

 ticularly the Bahama*, where they breed. Wilson speaks of it, but 

 he gives Latham's description, ic. Prince C. L. Bonaparte, in his 

 ' Speochio Comparative,' states that it is very rare and accidental hi 

 the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. 



The Antenna include those birds which are popularly known as 

 Geese. Mr. Swainson, in the ' Classification of Birds,' considers that 

 the A**rri<r constitute the rasorial sub-family of the whole group of 

 Analvlir. Although much nearer related, in Mr. Snainson's opinion, 

 to the True Ducks than are the Flamingoes, next to which he places 

 them, they are, he remarks, nevertheless much more terrestrial in 

 their habits ; and in their strong and high legs, fondness for grain and 

 vegetables, and comparative shortness of wing, he traces many of 

 the chief characters of the rasorial type. The first form, after 

 .jiiitting the Flamingoes, seems to him to be the natatorial genus 

 ('vyniu [< 'vc.six.r], which, by iU great length of neck and large-sized 

 body, soften* down the interval between the Ducks and the Ph<cni- 



BU1 of FtrpUu Ooose (Ommlof,* 



W fcrrsklc COOM (Aiutr Btnlela). [Dumcu Owns.] 



Bill of Snow-Goose [.Inter A ypn-borctu] 



Bill of Gray-Lag, or Common Wild Goose [Anttr fertu). 



Bill of Fife on-GooM [Cireoptit), Swoiiucn. [CaLcorsis.] 



