140 PHCENICOPTERUS RUBER. 



tongue, lar^e, fleshy, filling the cavity of the bill, 

 furnished with twelve or more hooked papillae on each 



side, turning backwards; the tip, a sharp cartilaginous 

 substance. The bird, when in full plumage, is wholly 

 of a most deep scarlet, (those of Africa said to be the 



deepest,) except the quills, which are black ; from the 

 base of the thigh to the claws, measures thirty-two 

 inches, of which the feathered part takes up no more 

 than three inches; the bare part above the kiuc, 

 thirteen inches ; and from thence to the claws, sixteen ; 

 the colour of the bare parts is red, and the toes are 

 furnished with a web, as in the duck genus, but is 

 deeply indented. The legs are not straight, but slightly 

 bent, the shin rather projecting. 



" These birds do not gain their full plumage till the 

 third year. In the first, they are of a grayish white for 

 the most part; the second, of a clearer white, tinged 

 with red, or rather rose colour; but the wings and 

 scapulars are red ; in the third year, a general glowing 

 scarlet manifests itself throughout; the bill and ]<<_' s 

 also keep pace with the gradation of colour in the 

 plumage, these parts changing to their colours by degrees, 

 as the bird approaches to an adult state. 



" Flamingoes prefer a warm climate ; in the old 

 continent not often met with beyond forty degrees 

 north or south ; every where seen on the African 

 coast, and adjacent isles, quite to the Cape of Good 

 Hope ; * and now and then on the coasts of Spain, -j* 

 Italy, and those of France lying in the Mediterranean 

 Sea ; being, at times, met with at Marseilles, and for 

 some way up the Rhone; in some seasons frequents 

 Aleppo,| and parts adjacent; seen also on the Persian 

 side of the Caspian Sea ; and from thence, along the 

 western coast, as far as the Wolga; though this at 

 uncertain times, and chiefly in considerable flocks, coming 



* In Zee Coow river Philosophical Transactions. Once 



plenty in the Isle of France. Voyage to Mauritius, p. 66. 



f About Valencia, in the lake Albufere. DILLOX\S Travels, 

 p. 374. 



f RUSSEL'S Aleppo, p. 69. 



