254? THE SHOVE LEIt. 



be supposed to possess peculiar appetites ; but the 

 spoonbill leads a life resembling the crane ; and the bill, 

 which possesses such a singular appearance to short- 

 sighted mortals, seems of no particular use. 



THE SHOVELER. 



The shoveler chiefly feeds upon frogs, toads, and 

 serpents, for which the inbabitants of the Cape of 

 Good Hope so highly esteem them, that they are suf- 

 fered to run tame about every house ; and the Egyp- 

 tians did not hold the ibis in higher reputation than 

 they do this very useful bird. Their flesh, it is true, 

 is unfit to be eaten ; but it destroys those animals 

 which are obnoxious where they abound, and in that 

 country is held in much higher estimation than it is in 

 any other part of the world. 



In Europe, the shoveler associates with the heron, 

 and forms its nest in the branches of the highest trees : 

 it generally lays from four to five eggs, of a whitish 

 cast, with a few pale spots. 



THE FLAMINGO. 



Though the flamingo is web-footed, like birds which 

 class under the goose kind, yet, from its appetites, 

 height, and figure, it seems to have an undisputed right 

 to be ranked with the crane. Its rieek and legs are 

 longer than any of that species, and it seeks its food in 

 the bosom of a stream, though instead of securing it 

 by the aid of its claws, it depends solely upon the 

 strength of its bill. 



The flamingo is the most remarkable of all the crane 

 kind, the tallest, bulkiest, and most beautiful. The 

 body, which is of a brilliant scarlet, is no bigger than 

 that of a swan ; but its legs and neck are of such an 



