THE FLAMINGO. 319 



the ground like a foot. The fact that has doubtless given rise to 

 this supposition is the position of the neck, necessitated by its 

 peculiar method of seeking food. We are told, it is true, about 

 a Flamingo reared in captivity which, being accidentally deprived 

 of one of its limbs, found out a remedy for its infirmity by walk- 

 ing on one leg and helping itself along by means of its bill, using 

 the latter as a crutch ; the master of the bird, noticing this, 

 fitted it with a wooden leg, which it used with the greatest 

 success. But this story, which applies very well to a domesticated 

 bird which was maimed, and consequently under peculiar condi- 

 tions, in no way invalidates our former observations. 



The Flamingo makes itself a nest which is as original as its 

 own personal appearance. It consists of a truncated cone, about 

 twenty inches in height, and formed of mud dried in the sun. 

 At the summit of this little hillock it hollows out a shallow cavity, 

 in which the female lays two eggs, rather elongated in shape and 

 of a dead white colour. When she is incubating them she sits 

 astride on this novel description of throne, with her legs hang- 

 ing down on each side. The young ones run about very soon 

 after they are hatched, but it is some time before they are able 

 to fly not, indeed, until they are clothed with their full plumage. 

 At two years old they assume the more brilliant colours of the 

 adult bird. 



The Flamingo is found in all the warm and temperate regions 

 of the globe. On certain islands off the American continent they 

 exist in such numbers, that navigators have given them the name 

 of the Flamingo Islands. In the Old World they are found spread 

 over a region below the fortieth degree of latitude, principally in 

 Egypt and the Nile tributaries : during the summer they seek a cooler 

 climate, and they are then seen in numerous flocks on the southern 

 coasts of France. The height of these magnificent birds reaches 

 to about five feet ; when they are flying, in the peculiar formation 

 common to most aquatic birds, with the neck stretched out and 

 the legs sticking out behind, they look, in the clear sky, like 

 gigantic triangles of fire. The spectacle they then present is at 

 once beautiful and wonderful. 



The ancients greedily sought after the flesh of the Flamingo, 

 which they regarded as the most choice food. The tongue espe- 



