TUE FLAMINGO, 



191 



June, and the females come before the males. The return migration occurs in the late autumn. 

 As a rule they prefer brackish lagoons and salt-water lakes in the vicinity of the sea-coast, and 

 seldom frequent fresh-water lakes. In deep water they swim, their toes being webbed like those of 

 a duck, but ordinarily they wade out in the water to a suitable depth, and then bend down their 

 long necks to rake the bottom for food. The upper mandible is plunged downwards into the mud, 

 and the tongue is busily occupied during the progress of feeding rejecting what is not good for food, 

 the refuse being drained thi-ough the sieve-like apparatus on the bird's bill. The breeding habits 

 of the Flamingo ai-e curious, and are described by Mr. Howard Saunders in his paper on the " Birds 

 of Southern Spain " as follows : " The Flamingo always makes its nest in the flattest part of the 



mai'sh, in places where there is from three to four inches of water. The nest, which rises to about 

 half a yard above the surface of the water, is made of mud, like that of a Swallow. Its shape is 

 almost cylindrical, but somewhat wider at the base. There is a slight concavity for the eggs, oval 

 in shape, like that of the inside of a hat. When the bird is sitting she has her legs stretched out 

 behind, hanging in the air (that is to say, unsupported) like the arms of a man when he puts them 

 behind his back and throws his shoulders forward. The complement of eggs is five, and the birds, 

 when once frightened from their nests, do not return. To raise itself, the bird ' scrambles ' with its 

 feet on the side of the nest till it lifts its body clear, and then takes wing." 



THE EIGHTH ORDER OF BIRDS. THE GEESE AND WILD FOWL (Anseres). 



The present order is a large one, and though nominally called the Geese, from the fact of the 

 genus Anser giving its name to the order, it contains by far the larger number of web- footed birds, all 

 the Ducks, Geese, and Swans being included within its limits. The order Anseres contains two 

 families, the Palamedeidce, or Screamers, and the Anatidce, or Ducks. 



