THE ANCIENT PHCENICOPTERUS. 223 



Not far off from the green and bowery pond in which these 

 happiest of ducks pass their days is the Old Aviary, in which aro 

 several birds well worth the attention of the visitor to the Gardens, 

 and deserving of at least a passing notice here. In the first 

 place here are the beautiful Curassows from Central aiad South 

 America, which are one day to grace oxir poultry yards and sup- 

 ply us with an additional and most delectable dish for the dinner- 

 table. Here again stalks about, with his quills behind his ears, 

 that singular compound of wader and bird of prey, the Secretary 

 Bird, the Snake-eater of Southern Africa. But more attractive 

 than all besides, here also is a group of those extraordinary 

 birds, the Flamingoes, which form an unmistakable " link" be- 

 tween the waders on the one hand and the true web-footed birds 

 on the other. To the ancients the Flamingo was the Phceuicop- 

 terus, the bird with " wings of flame," the name alluding to the 

 gorgeous meteor-like appearance presented by the birds when 

 winging their way through the air. 



But the acquaintance which the ancients had with the Fla- 

 mingo was by no means con6ned to this far-off knowledge : they 

 were familiar with it on the table, and though the flesh of the 

 bird seems only occasionally to have been eaten, the brains and 

 the tongue were ranked amongst the greatest luxuries. The 

 tongue especially was held in great esteem ; and Pliny preserves 

 the memory of one Apicius, whom he characterizes as " the most 

 riotous glutton and belly -god of his time," as the individual who 

 first taught the world that "the tongue of Phcenicopterns was a 

 most sweet and delicate piece of meat." 



The Keptile House has a peculiar interest from what we know 

 of the frightful powers of destruction possessed by many of its 

 apparently insignificant occupants ; and, inside its doors, one is 

 apt to look with some degree of concern at the glass fronts of the 

 different cases. These slim-looking fellows, at rest upon the sand, 

 or bathing in the troughs of water, are all very well at a safe dis- 

 tance, but we decidedly prefer not to have them at close quarters. 

 One thinks of the terrible occurrence which took place here a 

 few years since, when one of the keepers, a man in the prime of 

 life and full health, perished within an hour from the bite of a 

 Cobra not larger than a common eel. 



But besides these smaller species of the Serpent tribe which 

 kill their prey by means of poison-fangs, there are hero also the 



