HISTORY OF THE FLAMINGO. 53 



FLAMINGO (Phcenicoptcrus ruler,) of which tne general color 

 is red, and the quills of the wings deep black, or if there 

 be two, as is stated by some ornithologists, they appear to 

 be but little different, except in size. The bird when full 

 grown is not so big as a goose in the body, but it has the 

 neck and legs longer in proportion to its general size and 

 weight, than those of any other bird. The length from the 

 tip of the bill to the extremity of the tail is about four feet, 

 or only three or four inches more ; but when the legs are 

 stretched out, the length from the bill to their extremity 

 exceeds six feet. The neck is slender, and of an immoder- 

 ate length ; the tongue, which is large and fleshy, fills the 

 cavity of the bill, has a sharp cartilaginous tip, is furnished 

 with twelve or more hooked papillae on each side, which 

 bend backwards, and has a ball of fat at the root, which 

 epicures reckon a great delicacy. The bird, when in full 

 plumage, which it does not attain till its fourth year, has the 

 head, neck, tail and under parts of a beautiful rose red, the 

 wings of a vivid or scarlet red, the back and scapulars rose 

 red, and the legs rosaceous. The young, before moulting, 

 have their plumage cinereous, and a considerable portion 

 of black on the secondaries of the wings and tail ; at the 

 expiration of the first year, they are of a dirty white, with 

 the secondaries of the wings of a blackish brown, edged 

 with white ; the wing-coverts at their origin white, faintly 

 shaded with rose color, but terminated with black, and the 

 white feathers of the tail irregularly spotted with bluish 

 brown. At two years of age the pink on the wings acquires 

 more intensity. In all places of the world where flamingos 

 are met with, they are highly interesting and characteristic 

 birds, their great extent, their singular shape, their brilliant 

 colors, and the sunny skies under which the generality of 

 them sport over the broad waters, are all calculated deeply 

 to interest, and widely to gratify the observer of nature. 

 They are, generally speaking, birds of warm climates and 

 rich places ; but they are not wholly confined to the regions 



