THE CRANE KIND. 329 



great numbers. In this grove, also, the heron, 

 the bittern, the cormorant, and the shag, have 

 taken up their residence, and annually bring 

 forth their young together. Here the crane kind 

 seem to have formed their general rendezvous ; 

 and, as the inhabitants say, every sort of bird has 

 its several quarter, where none but their own 

 tribe are permitted to reside. Of this grove the 

 peasants of the country make good profit. When 

 the young ones are ripe, those that farm the 

 grove, with a hook at the end of a long pole, 

 catch hold of the bough on which the nest is 

 built, and shake out the young ones ; but some- 

 times the nest and all tumble down together. 



The shoveler lays from three to five eggs, 

 white, and powdered with a few sanguine or pale 

 spots. We sometimes see in the cabinets of the 

 curious the bills of American shovelers, twice as 

 big and as long as those of the common kind 

 among us ; but these birds have not yet made 

 their way into Europe. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE FLAMINGO. 



THE Flamingo has the justest right to be placed 

 among cranes ; and though it happens to be web- 

 footed, like birds of the goose kind, yet its height, 



