222 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE TRUE FLAMINGOES. GENUS PH^ENICOPTERUS. 



Phcenicoplerus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 230 (1766). 



Type, P, ruber^ Linn. 



The Flamingoes are divided by Count Salvador! into three 

 genera, Phanicopterus^ Phceniconaias, and Phtznicoparrus. The 

 latter is confined to the Andes of Chili and Peru, the second 

 to Africa and North-western India, while the genus Phcznicop- 

 terus is found throughout the greater part of the tropical Old 

 World, with the exception of the Australian Region, and occurs 

 again in the Neotropical Region. 



I. THE COMMON FLAMINGO. PH^ENICOPTERUS ROSEUS. 



Phanicopterus roseus, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat. ii. p. 207 

 (1811); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 343, pi. 410 (1879); 

 Saunders, ed. Yarr. Brit. B. iv. p. 244 (1884) ; id. Man. 

 Br. B. p. 383 (1889). 



Adult Male. White, with a rosy tinge, especially on the tail ; 

 upper wing-coverts bright scarlet ; quills black, with the inner- 

 most secondaries rosy ; under surface white with a rosy tinge, 

 the under wing-coverts and axillaries bright scarlet ; bare skin 

 near the eye and base of bill fleshy-pink ; end of bill and 

 edges of the lower mandible black ; legs and feet pinkish-red ; 

 iris pale lemon-yellow. Total length, 50 inches; culmen, 5-5 ; 

 wing, 17*0; tail, 7-0; tarsus, 13-0. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male, but a little smaller. 



Young Birds. Brown above, with darker central streaks on the 

 feathers; the head and neck whitish, tinged with buff, especially 

 on the upper neck ; under surface of body whitish, with a tinge 

 of buff, the axillaries pale pink ; base of bill dull pink ; legs 

 dull lead-colour. 



Nestling. Covered with white down, greyer on the back ; the 

 bill quite straight. 



Range in Great Britain. Flamingoes are so often kept in cap- 

 tivity in our Zoological Gardens and in private aviaries, that it 

 is quite possible that an individual occasionally escapes, which 

 may account for the odd specimens which have been shot in 

 England. Three instances, however, of the capture of the 



