i) HISTORY OF THE FLAMINGO. 



promenade at the city of Cagliari, they are seen moving 

 like lines of fire along the heavens. Those lines some- 

 times 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 regularity as soldiers 

 go through their evolutions at a well conducted review. 

 Indeed from their great and almost equal powers on the 

 wing and on foot, these birds are equally interesting in the 

 air and on the earth. 



THE FIELD SPARROW 



Is the smallest of our sparrows, and frequents dry fields 

 covered with long grass, builds a small nest on the ground 

 at the foot of a bush, and lines it with horse-hair. It has no 

 song, but a kind of cherruping, not much different from 

 that of a cricket. There are multitudes of these little birds 

 in North and South Carolina and Georgia. When disturbed, 

 they take to the bushes, clustering so close together that a 

 dozen may be shot at a time. This bird is five inches 

 and a quarter in length ; the upper parts are chesnut and 

 black. 



