190 BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



are beset, and leaving the shells on which the bird subsists. 

 Or, as Peter expressed it: "It seems to me, sir, when de 

 Fillymingo feed dat de upper lip do all de wuk, sir, when he 

 chomp, chomp, chomp, and grabble in de mud. ' ' 



Young Flamingos, taken from the rookery for further 

 study, subsequently gave an apparently instinctive exhibit 

 of a characteristic habit of the adult bird when feeding. As 

 I have said, the old birds live on a small spiral shell and 

 its contents. This food is always obtained under water 

 which may reach to the bird's body. When the shells are 

 apparently embedded in the marl, the feeding bird loosens 

 them by a treading motion. It is the Flamingos ' one undig- 

 nified action. Birds thus occupied seem to be engaged in 

 some ridiculous kind of jig, which they dance with the head 

 and neck submerged. 



Exactly the same performance was indulged in by the 

 young bird, which, when given a pan of rice and water, soon 

 danced the rice from off the bottom in order that it might be 

 more readily secured. 



The routine of camp life was now definitely established. 

 The mornings were passed in the blind, the afternoons in 

 the preparation of specimens, and the evenings were given 

 to the interminable task of refilling plate-holders. 



Daily squalls threatened to blow our poorly stayed tent 

 into the creek, and continued rains rapidly decreased the 

 extent of visible land about us. Nevertheless, we were not 

 unduly inconvenienced by the weather. 



The Flamingos were less fortunate. The evidently 

 excessive rainfall had flooded even the comparatively high 

 ground on which their rookery was placed. Some nests 

 were submerged, (my own particular nest had already 

 crumbled before the unaccustomed usage to which it had 

 been subjected), 'and all were surrounded by water. The 

 necessity of erecting a structure of some height was thus 

 plainly demonstrated. 



This second catastrophe to a nesting colony emphasized 



