498 FLAT 



nnd sometimes on the shores of Spain, Italy, Sicily, 

 Sardinia, and even at Marseilles, and some way up 

 the Rhone, but rarely in the interior of the continent 

 of Europe, and seldom on the banks of the Rhine. 

 We trace them on the Persian side of the Caspian 

 Sea, and thence along the western coast as far as the 

 Wolga. They breed abundantly in the Cape de 

 Verd islands, particularly that of Sal, constructing on 

 the sea shore, but so as not to be flooded by the tide, 

 a nest of mud, in the shape of a pyramidal hillock, with 

 a cavity at the top, in which the female generally lays 

 two white eggs of the size of those of a goose, but 

 more elongated. The structure is of a sufficient 

 height to admit of the bird's sitting on it conveniently, 



Flamingo. 



or rather standing astride, as the legs are placed, one 

 on eacfi side, at lull length. The female will also 

 sometimes deposit her eggs on the low projection of 

 a rock, if otherwise adapted to her attitude during 

 incubation. The young are not able to fly till they 

 are grown ; but they can previously run with wonder- 

 ful swiftness. In this immature state they are some- 

 times caught, and easily tamed, becoming familiar in 

 five or six days, eating from the hand, and drinking 

 freely of sea water. But they are reared with diffi- 

 culty, being very apt to pine from want of their natural 

 subsistence, which chiefly consists of small fishes, 

 and their spawn, testacea, and aquatic insects. These 

 they capture by plunging the bill and part of the 

 head into the water, and, from time to time, trampling 

 upon the bottom to disturb the mud, and raise up their 

 prey. In feeding, they twist the neck in such a man- 

 ner, that the upper part of the bill is applied to the 

 ground. They generally shun cultivated and inha- 

 bited tracts of country, and resort to solitary shores, 

 and salt lakes, and marshes. Except in the pairing sea- 

 son, they are generally met with in large flocks, and at 

 a distance, appear like a regiment of soldiers, being 

 often arranged in file, or alongside of one another, on 

 the borders of rivers. When the Europeans first 

 visited America, they found these birds on the swampy 

 shores quite tame, gentle, and noways distrustful of 

 mankind ; and we learn from Catesby, than when the 

 fowler had killed one, the rest of the flock, instead 



PISH. 



of attempting to fly, only regarded the fall of their 

 companion in a sort of fixed astonishment, so that 

 the whole flock were sometimes killed in detail, with- 

 out one of them attempting to make its escape. They 

 are now, however, extremely shy, and one of them 

 acts as a sentinel when the rest are feeding ; and the 

 moment that it perceives the least danger, it utters a 

 loud scream, like the sound of a trumpet, and instantly 

 all are on the wing, and fill the air with their clamour. 

 Flamingos when at rest, stand on one leg, having the 

 other drawn up to the body, and the head placed 

 under the wing. When flying in bands, they form 

 an angle, like geese, and in walking they often rest 

 the flat part of the bill on the ground, as a point of 

 support. These beautiful birds were held in high 

 estimation by the ancient Romans, who often used 

 them in their grand sacrifices, and sumptuous enter- 

 tainments. Pliny, Martial, and other writers, cele- 

 brate the tongue as the most delicate of eatables. The 

 flesh is not despised, even in modern times ; but it is 

 alleged by some of those who have partaken of it that 

 it has an oily and somewhat muddy flavour. That 

 of the young is generally preferred to that of the 

 adult bird. The aerial march arrival, and the gene- 

 ral movement of these birds, are described as being 

 particularly splendid. From the high bastion which 

 forms the promenade at the city of Cagliari, they are 

 seen moving like lines -of fire along the heavens. 

 Those lines sometimes move on in regular order and 

 with uniform flight ; at other times the line halts, or 

 performs a slow wheeling circular or spiral course, 

 until they have arrived at the point where they are to 

 rest. Nor does the beauty of the spectacle cease 

 after the birds have alighted on the ground ; for they 

 march and wheel and perform various operations there 

 with nearly the same order and regularity as soldiers go 

 through their evolutions at a well conducted review. 

 Indeed, from their great and almost equal powers on 

 the w r ing and on foot, these birds are equally interest- 

 ing in the air and on the earth. 



FLAT-FISH (Pleuronectes). One of the divisions 

 of those soft-finned fishes which are sub-brachial, or 

 have the ventral fins under the pectorals, and a very 

 curious, interesting, and valuable tribe of fishes ; while 

 their numbers in those localities which they frequent, 

 and the very general distribution of those localities 

 over the earth, tend greatly to increase both their 

 interest and their value. 



Of the bony fishes, leaving the cartilaginous ones 

 out of the question, in which, however, the rays or 

 skates bear a considerable resemblance to the true 

 flat-fishes, these last may be regarded as the lowest 

 inhabitants of the sea, and in this respect distinct 

 from the others. They do not indeed dwell in the 

 greatest depths in absolute measurement, for there 

 are some of the other fishes having the head, and 

 especially the eyes, remarkably large as compared 

 with the rest of the body, that are found in deeper 

 water than any of the flat-fishes. The flat-fishes, 

 however, whether the waters which they inhabit be 

 deeper or shallower, are more true to the bottom, 

 and less prone to range than any other fishes with 

 which we are acquainted. 



We need hardly mention that the different species 

 of flounders, soles, turbot, halibut, and several others, 

 which get different names in different parts of the 

 country, are the fishes to which we allude, for these 

 are so plentiful in all our fish markets, that their 

 general appearance and form is known to everybody, 



