FLAMMARION 



2203 



FLANDERS 



milion, like a flame; however, it may be light 

 red, pink or white, set off by black wing quills. 

 A flock of flamingos in a marsh or on a river 

 bank, or migrating in V-shaped flight, is a 

 delight to the eyes. Several different species 

 are found in Mediterranean and tropical coun- 



FLAMINGOS 



tries, and they were once common in the 

 Southern United States; but hunters for plum- 

 age have so decreased their number that they 

 are rarely seen north of Central America. 



In feeding the flamingo buries its bill, top 

 downward, in the water, then sways its head 

 from side to side, causing currents of water 

 to pass through the bill, where fine horny pro- 

 jections strain out the seeds and small water 

 animals that are stirred up from the bottom 

 by the bird's feet. The nest is really a mound 

 of mud built high enough only to keep the 

 eggs out of the water, and on this the mother 

 bird sits with legs folded beneath her. The 

 early Romans regarded flamingo tongues as a 

 desirable delicacy, and these shared with pea- 

 cocks' tongues the place of honor at the grossly- 

 extravagant feasts of royal and princely houses. 



FLAMMARION, fla mah re ohN ' , CAMILLE 

 (1842- ), a French astronomer and writer of 

 scientific books. Some of his statements look 

 so far into the future as to seem in part fanci- 

 ful. He was born at Montigny-le-Roi, and 

 studied at the Paris Observatory and later at 

 the Bureau des Longitudes. In 1868 he began 

 a series of balloon ascensions for the purpose 

 of studying the heavens. In 1887 he founded 

 the French Astronomical Society. He is fa- 

 mous for his original researches in astronomy, 

 but is still better known for his excellent and 



accurate handbooks, many of which have been 

 translated into English, including The Un- 

 known and Psychic Problems; Marvels of the 

 Heavens; Urania; Lumen and others. 



FLANDERS, flan'derz, the old name of a 

 portion of Europe including at one time the 

 provinces of East and West Flanders in Bel- 

 gium, part of the Dutch province of Zealand 

 and the French department of Le Nord. Philip 

 the Bold, king of France, appointed his son-in- 

 law Baldwin to rule over this territory, with 

 the title of count, early in the ninth century. 

 Baldwin imported into the country great num- 

 bers of skilled makers of woolen goods and 

 started the commercial progress of both Flan- 

 ders and surrounding territories. Though at 

 one time the counts of Flanders were more 

 powerful than the French kings, the French 

 on the south and the Dutch on the north 

 gradually encroached on and lessened these 

 dominions. On the death in 1477 of Charles 

 the Bald, who, by marriage, had united Flanders 

 with his own duchy of Burgundy, the Austrian 

 house of Hapsburg became rulers of Flanders. 



In Napoleonic times Flanders was incorpo- 

 rated with the French Empire, and by the Con- 

 gress of Vienna was united to Belgium and 

 Holland, forming the kingdom of the Nether- 

 lands. Between 1830 and 1832 Belgium gained 

 its independence, retaining the present prov- 

 inces of East and West Flanders. East Flan- 

 ders has an area of 1,158 square miles, and 

 is one of the most thoroughly cultivated prov- 

 inces of Europe. The capital is Ghent, a 

 noted manufacturing center. West Flanders, 

 the capital of which is Bruges, has an area 



LOCATION MAP 

 (a) West Flanders; (5) East Flanders. 



of 1,249 square miles. During the War of 

 the Nations both these provinces were over- 

 run and occupied by the German armies. See 

 BELGIUM; WAR OF THE NATIONS. 



