THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN 

 FLAMINGO. 1 



MY first experience with these birds was in the winter of 

 1884-85. We were east of the easternmost Cape Sable, the 

 extreme south point of Florida, when late in the afternoon we 

 entered a bay about seven by fifteen miles in extent, almost 

 every rod of which was shallow enough to be waded by the 

 flamingo. 



The bottom largely consisted of a soft, sticky clay, as though 

 composed of fine particles of disintegrated coral, so soft that 

 with one hand I could set a pole two fathoms down into the 

 mud, and so sticky that one cannot wash the mud from any- 

 thing without rubbing it. Although the water in these bays 

 is so shallow, much of it being not above eighteen inches deep, 

 it is so permeated with this soft white mud, which is stirred 

 up by the action of the wind, that it is impossible to see the 

 bottom, and after a day or two of more than usually heavy 

 wind the whole bay reminds one of a large bowl of milk. 



When about halfway across this bay it being ebb-tide 

 our boat stuck in the mud and we could go no farther. After 

 lowering sail, I climbed to the mast-head to learn if anything 

 could be seen. Almost to the east of us, where the setting sun 

 reflected the light to the best advantage, was a long line of 

 red extending fully a half mile, reminding one of a prairie fire 

 at night. 



1 Abridged, by the author's permission, from Captain D. P. Ingraham's 

 "Observations on the American Flamingo," a paper presented before the 

 World's Congress on Ornithology, 1893. 



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