FLAMINGOES. 289 



their single egg, with the legs straddled on each side of them. This idea 

 was, however, dissipated by Mr. Abel Chapman in 1883, when he visited the 

 Marismas of the Guadalquivir, in Spain, and found out the nesting habits of 

 the Flamingo. He writes : "One cannot go far into the Marisma without 

 seeing that extraordinary fowl the Flamingo, certainly the most characteristic 

 bird of the wilderness. In herds of 300 to 500, several of which are often 

 in sight at once, they stand feeding in the open water, all their heads under, 

 greedily tearing up the grasses and water-plants from the bottom. On 

 approaching them, which can only be done by extreme caution, their silence 

 is first broken by the sentries, who commence walking away with low croaks, 

 then the whole five hundred necks rise at once to the full extent, every bird 

 gaggling his loudest as they walk obliquely away, looking back over their 

 shoulders as though to take stock of the extent of the danger. Pushing <a 

 few yards forward, up they all rise, and a more beautiful sight cannot be 

 imagined than the simultaneous spreading of their thousand crimson wings, 

 flashing against the sky like a gleam of rosy light. Then one descends to 

 the practical, and a volley of slugs cuts a lane through their phalanx. 



"In many respects these birds bear a strong resemblance to Geese. Like 

 them Flamingoes feed by day, and great quantities of grass, etc., are 

 always floating about the muddy water where a herd has been feeding. 

 Their cry is almost indistinguishable from the gaggling of "Geese, and they 

 fly in the same catenanan formations. In size Flamingoes vary greatly. 

 The largest I have measured was fully 6 ft. 5 in., whilst others (old red birds) 

 barely reached 5 ft." He thus describes the finding of the nests: "On 

 reaching the spot we found a perfect mass of nests ; the low mud plateau 

 was crowded with them as thickly as the space permitted. These nests had 

 little or no height ; some were raised 2 or 3 in. , a few might be 5 or 6 in. ; 

 but the majority were merely circular bulwarks of mud, with the impression 

 of the bird's legs distinctly marked on it. The general aspect of the plateau 

 was not unlike a large table covered with plates. In the centre was a deep 

 hole full of muddy water, which, from the 'gouged' appearance of its sides, 

 appeared to be used as a reservoir for nest-making materials. Scattered all 

 round this main colony were numerous single nests rising out of the water, 

 and evidently built up from the bottom. Here and there two or three or 

 more of these were joined together 'semi-detached,' so to speak. These 

 separate nests rose 6 or 8 in. above the water level, and were about 15 in. 

 across. The water was about 12 or 15 in. deep. None of these nests 

 as yet contained eggs, and though I returned to the ' pajarera ' on the latest 

 day I was in its neighbourhood (llth May), they still remained empty. On 

 both occasions many hundreds of Flamingoes were sitting on the nests, and on 

 the llth we had a good view of them at close quarters. Linked arm in arm 

 with Felipe, and crouching low in the water, to look as little human as 

 possible, we approached within some 70 yds. before their sentries showed 

 signs of alarm, and, at that distance, we observed the sitting birds as distinctly 

 as one need wish. Their long red legs doubled under their bodies, the knees 

 projecting as far as, or beyond, the tail, and their graceful necks neatly 

 curled away among their back feathers, like a sitting swan, with their heads 

 resting on their breasts all these points were unmistakable. Indeed, it is 

 hardly necessary to point out that in the great majority of cases (the nest 

 being hardly raised above the level of the flat mud) no other position was 

 possible." 



Of Flamingoes six species are known, and they are found in the temperate 

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