670 PHCENICOPTERID/E. 



Plumage throughout of a rosy white in the adult bird ; primaries and 

 secondaries black ; primary and greater wing coverts white, dark shafted and 

 broadly'tipped with black, rest of the wing coverts and tertiaries rosy red ; 

 axillaries and under wing coverts rosy red ; bill rosy, broadly black at the tip ; 

 legs and feet rosy red. 



Length. 48 to $4 inches ; wing 1 6 to 16-5 ; tail 6; bill 4 to 4" 12. Birds of 

 the year have scarcely any rosy tinge, and the plumage, especially of the 

 upper .parts, is mixed with dusky. 



Hab. Beloochistan, Persia, Afghanistan, Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, Oudh, 

 Bengal, Central India, Rajputana, Kutch, Guzerat, Concan, Deccan, South 

 India and Ceylon. Everywhere in flocks of thousands on all the lakes, rivers, 

 &c., especially in Sind. Mr. Hume (Sir. F. i. p. 257) truly describes them 

 " as occurring in countless myriads, seen either massed upon the water, as 

 huge rosy islands, or floating above it like a sunset cloud in all the large lakes 

 of Sind. On taking flight, the exposure of the rosy upper and under wing 

 coverts turns the mass into a gigantic brilliant rosy scarf, waving to and fro in 

 mighty folds as it floats away." They are also common about the Eurrachee 

 harbour, chiefly on the mud flats and in Clifton Bay; usually they are in large 

 parties drawn up in line. When feeding they have their necks and heads bent 

 down in such a position, that the upper mandible rests on the ground ; with it 

 they stir up the limpid ooze in search of animalculae, minute Crustacea, fish, 

 &c., on which they live. Like the Cranes the Flamingoes also have sentinels 

 posted to give warning of danger ; their flesh is not considered good, but the 

 Mohannas or fishermen caste on the Indus consider it palatable, the fishy taste 

 being lost on their palates, owing to their principal diet being fish. The 

 ancients considered it choice food, and the Egyptians, at the present day, are 

 partial to the flesh. From the tongue they are said to extract an oil which 

 they use for flavouring certain viands. 



They have been found breeding at Fao in Mesopotamia; the nest is as 

 curious as the structure of the bird, being a truncated cone, built entirely of 

 stiff clayey mud, on which the parent bird sits either astride or with its long 

 legs folded under it. Eggs, 2 in number, white, and very chalky. 



1372. Phoenicopterus minor, (Geoff. St. HH.) Tem., P. C. 419 ; 



Schleg., De Dier. fig. 276 ; Ibis, 1869, pi. 15, 8; Hume, Str.F. i. p. 31 ; 

 ii. P. 339" Murray t Hdbk., Zool.> &c.< Sind, p. 230 ; id. Vert., Zool. Sind., 

 p. 280. The LESSER FLAMINGO. 



" In winter plumage the head, neck and the whole body above and below is 

 a delicate pale rose colour ; on the back little more than white, tinged with 

 rosy ; scapulars are almost white, with a pale rosy streak down the centre ; 

 quills black, except the tertials, which are like the scapulars, but slightly 

 pinker ; wing coverts pale rosy white, the lesser and median broadly centred 

 at the tip with a bright rather pale cerise, and the legs and feet are a bright 

 rose pink. In the breeding season the rosy tint is very much brighter, the 



