BIRDS. 339 



commonly called waders, on account of the semi-aquatift 

 propensities by which so many of them are distinguished. 

 Of these the most gracefully formed are the demoiselles, or 

 lady-birds {Ardea pnvonia and Ardea virgo, Linn.), both of 

 African origin. They are not unfrequently exhibited in 

 menageries under the name of crown-birds, or Balearic 

 cranes. 



The flamingo tribe are remarkable for the length of their 

 legs. The species occasionally found in Europe {Phceni' 

 copterus ruber) is native to the warmer regions of Asia and 

 Africa. The bird described under that name by Alexander 

 Wilson, in his American Ornithology, is a distinct species, 

 mentioned as such long ago by Molina, in his Natural His- 

 tory of Chili. It is alluded to by Thomas CjMnpbell in his 

 Gertrude of Wyoming : — 



" Then, where of Indian hills the daylight takes 

 His leave, how might you the flamingo see 

 Disporting like a meteor on the lakes." 



The lesser flamingo (P. minor of Vieillot and Temminck) 

 is a species discovered of late years as an inhabitant of 

 various parts of Africa, from Senegal to the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



The gigantic stork {Ciconia argda) though well known 

 in Bengal, is likewise an African species. This bird is 

 sometimes upwards of six feet in height. It is very com- 

 mon in many of the interior parts of Africa, and is called 

 marabou in Senegal. According to Major Denham, it is 

 protected by the inhabitants on account of its services as a 

 scavenger. Its appetite is most voracious, and nothing 

 comes amiss to its omnivorous propensities. Smeathman 

 has given a long account of a tame bird of this species. It 

 regularly attended the hall at dinner-time, and placed itself 

 behind its master's chair. It frequently helped itself to 

 what it liked best ; and one day darted its enormous bill 

 into a boiled fowl, which it swallowed in an instant. It 

 used to fly about the whole country, and generally roosted 

 high among some silk-cotton trees. From this station, at 

 the distance of two or three miles, it could see when the 

 dinner was carried across the court, when it immediately 

 took wing, and flying with great swifl;ness, arrived in time 

 to enter the house with some of those who carried the dishes. 



