PLEGADISPH(ENICOPTERUS 587 



blackish, glossed with purple and green ; under tail-coverts purplish black ; 

 bill blackish slate, at the base slate-grey ; legs blackish grey ; iris brown, 

 Culmen 5 -2, wing 11 '5, tail 4'7, tarsus 4-0 inch. Female similar bflt a 

 trifle smaller. In the winter the head and neck are blackish brown, finely 

 streaked with white, and the young resemble the adult in winter dress, but 

 are duller in colour, the copper-brown replaced by dull dark brown. 



Hob. Central and southern Europe, straying rarely to 

 southern Scandinavia and Great Britain, but has occurred in 

 Iceland and the Faeroes ; Africa south to Natal : Central Asia 

 and India east to Burma and probably China, south to Ceylon, 

 Borneo, Java, Celebes, New Guinea, and Australia ; eastern 

 United States south to Florida and Mexico. 



Generally found in marshes or near water. It is as a rule a 

 silent bird, only uttering a harsh note when flushed. Its food 

 consists of aquatic insects, worms, Crustacea, small frogs, etc. 

 It breeds in large marshes in societies, making a flat nest of 

 sticks, flags, etc., which is placed on the ground, on the dense 

 aquatic plants, or on a tree, and deposits 3 or 4 rich greenish 

 blue eggs, which measure about T95 by 1*41. In Europe the 

 breeding season is in May. whereas in northern India it is in 

 June, and in Ceylon between November and February. 



PH(ENICOPTERUS, Briss., 1760. 

 819. FLAMINGO. 



PHCENICOPTERUS ROSEUS. 



Phoenicopterus roseus, Pall. Zoogr. Koss. As. ii. p. 207 (1811) ; Gould, B. 

 of E. pi. 287 ; Dresser, vi. p. 343, pi. 410 ; Salvadori, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. xxvii. p. 12 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iv. p. 408 ; Saunders, 

 pp. 395, 756 ; Lilford, vii. p. 54, pi. 19 ; P. antiquorum, Temm. 

 Man. d'Orn. ii. p. 587 (1820) ; Naum. ix. p. 408, Taf. 233. 



Flammant, French ; Flamingo, Portug. ; Flamenco, Span. ; 

 Fiammanti, Fenicottero, Ital. ; Eosenfarliger Flamingo, German ; 

 Krasnoi Gouss, Russ. ; Bog-hans, Rag-h&ns, Hindu. ; Kaj-i-surlth, 

 Persian. 



$ ad. (Spain). Plumage rosy-white, the tail deeper rose "; upper and 

 lesser under wing-coverts and axillaries vermilion rose ; quills black ; legs> 

 base of bill, and bare space round the eye flesh-pink ; feet webbed ; ter- 

 minal portion of bill deep black ; iris pale yellow. Culmen 5 '65, wing 16'7> 

 tail 7'0, tarsus 12'4 inch. Female similar but slightly smaller. The young 

 have the plumage white, tinged with rusty buff, especially on the upper 

 neck ; wing-coverts chiefly brown ; quills brown ; axillaries rose-pink 

 legs dull plumbeous. 



