EXPLANATOKY INDEX. 407 



permit the holder to read or write by its natural lantern. It 

 is seen at its best when on the wing, as it then discloses four 

 luminous spots, of which only the upper pair are visible 

 when the insect is at rest. 



The upper pair are oval in shape, and are seen at the base 

 of the thorax, one on either side, and after death fade into a 

 brownish yellow. When the beetle expands its wings for 

 flight, two more spots are seen, which had been concealed by 

 the wing-cases, so that the appearance of a single Firefly on 

 the wing is gorgeous in the extreme, and, considering that they 

 fly in countless thousands, their coruscating lights can be 

 compared to nothing but starry showers of fireworks. Even 

 in the warmer countries of Europe the Fireflies are very 

 beautiful, but they are completely surpassed in splendour by 

 those of the tropics. 



In one of his essays, Waterton mentions an absurd state- 

 ment, that there are certain birds which fasten Fireflies on 

 their nests in order to keep off the bats which might devour 

 their young. He very curtly disposes of the matter by 

 saying that bats do not eat young birds, but that they do 

 eat Fireflies, and would in consequence rather be attracted 

 than frightened by them. 



FLAMINGO (Phcenicopterus ruber). Waterton devotes part 

 of one essay to a congenial task, that of demolishing an 

 error in natural history. This particular error concerns the 

 nesting of this bird, which is said to raise conical mounds of 

 mud in order to keep its nest out of the water, to lay its 

 eggs on the top of the heap, and to sit upon them with its 

 legs hanging down into the water. 



This attitude, as Waterton showed, by reference to his own 

 herons, is not necessary, the long legs of the Flamingo and 

 the heron being as easily bent under the body as those of the 

 short-legged birds. In consequence of a conversation with 

 Waterton on the subject, I went to the Zoological Gardens 

 in odrer to watch the attitudes of the Flamingo, and was greatly 

 struck with the lithe activity of the bird. I made a number 



