188 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



known in that part of the world, gave the 

 flamingo the character of a foolish bird, that 

 suffered itself to be approached and shot at. 

 When the fowler had killed one, the rest of 

 the flock, far from attempting to fly, only re- 

 garded the fall of their companion in a kind 

 of fixed astonishment; another and another 

 shot was discharged ; and thus the fowler often 

 levelled the whole flock, before one of them 

 began to think of escaping. 



But at present it is very different in that 

 part of the world ; and the flamingo is not 

 only one of the scarcest, but of the shyest birds 

 in the world, and the most difficult of ap- 

 .proach. They chiefly keep near the most de- 

 serted and inhospitable shores ; near salt-water 

 lakes and swampy islands. They come down 

 to the banks of rivers by day; and often retire 

 to the inland mountainous parts of the country 

 at the approach of night. When seen by 

 mariners in the day, they always appear 

 drawn up in a long close line of two or three 

 hundred together; and, as Dampier tells us, 

 present at the distance of half a mile, the ex- 

 act representation of a long brick wall. Their 

 rank, however, is broken when they seek for 

 food ; but they always appoint one of the 

 number as a watch, whose only employment is 

 to observe and give notice of danger, while 

 the rest are feeding. As soon as this trustv 

 centinel perceives the remotest appearance of 

 danger, he gives a loud scream, with a voice 

 as shrill as a trumpet, and instantly the whole 

 cohort are upon the wing. They feed in si- 

 lence ; but upon this occasion, all the flock 

 are in one chorus, and fill the air with intoler- 

 able screamings. 



From this it appears, that the flamingos 

 are very difficult to be approached at present, 

 and that they avoid mankind with the most 

 cautious timidity ; however, it is not from any 

 antipathy to man that they shun his society, 

 for in some villages, as we are assured by 

 Labat, along the coasts of Africa, the flamin- 

 gos come in great numbers to make their re- 

 sidence among the natives. There they as- 

 semble by thousands, perched on the trees, 

 within and about the village ; and are so very 

 clamorous, that the sound is heard at near a 

 mile's distance. The negroes are fond of 

 their company ; and consider their society as 

 a gift of Heaven, as a protection from acci- 

 dental evils. The French, who are admitted 

 to this part of the coast, cannot, without some 

 degree of discontent, see such a quantity of 

 game untouched, and rendered useless by the 

 superstition of the natives : they now and then 

 privately shoot some of them, when at a con- 

 venient distance from the village, and hide 

 them in the long grass, if they perceive any 

 of the negroes approaching ; for they would 

 probably stand a chance of being ill used, if 



the blacks discovered their sacred birds thus 

 unmercifully treated. 



Sometimes, in their wild state, they are 

 shot by mariners ; and their young, which run 

 excessively fast, are often taken. Labat has 

 frequently taken them with nets, properly ex- 

 tended round the places they breed in. When 

 their long legs are entangled in the meshes, 

 they are then unqualified to make their es- 

 cape : but they still continue to combat with 

 their destroyer; and the old ones, though 

 seized by the head, will scratch with their 

 claws ; and these, though seemingly inoffen- 

 sive, very often do mischief. When they 

 are fairly disengaged from the net, they 

 nevertheless preserve their natural ferocity : 

 they refuse all nourishment; they peck, and 

 combat with their claws, at every opportunity. 

 The fowler is, therefore, under a necessity of 

 destroying them, when taken ; as they would 

 only pine and die, if left to themselves in 

 captivity. 



The flesh of the old ones is black and hard ; 

 though, Dampier says, well tasted : that of the 

 young ones is still better. But of all other 

 delicacies, the flamingo's tongue is the most ce- 

 lebrated. " A dish of flamingos' tongues," 

 says our author, " is a feast for an emperor." 

 In fact, the Roman emperors considered them 

 as the highest luxury ; and we have an ac- 

 count of one of them, who procured fifteen 

 hundred flamingos' tongues to be served up 

 in a single dish. The tongue of this bird, 

 which is so much sought after, is a good deal 

 larger than that of any other bird whatever. 

 The bill of the flamingo is like a large black 

 box, of an irregular figure, and filled with a 

 tongue which is black and gristly ; but what 

 peculiar flavour it may possess, I leave to be 

 determined by such as understand good eating 

 better than I do. It is probable, that the 

 beauty and scarcity of the bird might be the 

 first inducements to studious gluttony to fix 

 upon its tongue as meat for the table. What 

 Dampier says of (he goodness of its flesh, can- 

 not so well be relied on; for Dampier was 

 often hungry, and thought any thing good 

 that could be eaten: he avers, indeed, with 

 Labat, that the flesh is black, tough, and 

 fishy ; so that we can hardly give him credit, 

 when he asserts, that its flesh can be formed 

 into a luxurious entertainment. 



These birds, as was said, always go in 

 flocks together ; and they move in rank, in the 

 manner of cranes. They are sometimes seen, 

 at the break of day, flying down in great 

 numbers from the mountains, and conducting 

 each other with a trumpet cry, that sounds 

 like the word Tococo, from whence the sava- 

 ges of Canada have given them the name. In 

 their flight, they appear to great advantage; 

 for they then seem -of as bright a red as a 



