410 EXPLANATORY INDEX. 



The feathers are mostly white with a slight pink tinge, 

 but the wing-feathers are mostly brilliant scarlet, and have 

 earned for the bird the generic title of Phcenicopterus, i.e. 

 ' scai'let- winged. ' 



The curving bend, or angle in tbe beak of the Flamingo, is 

 given to the bird in order to enable it to feed after its own 

 peculiar fashion. Like the duck, the Flamingo feeds by 

 dabbling with its beak in muddy water, and filtering out the 

 nutritive matter by means of an arrangement which much 

 resembles a pair of very fine, soft, and flexible combs, fitting 



into each other in strainer fashion. The duck, having short 

 legs, can push its bill into the water without difficulty, but 

 owing to its very long neck and legs, the Flamingo could not 

 do so, except for the peculiar curve in its bill, which enables 

 it to place its head upside down when it feeds, and in this 

 rather odd position to extract nourishment fi'om the water. 



Any one who wishes to see the mechanism by which a 

 Flamingo separates the nutritive substances from the water, 

 has only to take the head of a duck and examine the beak 

 and tongue. In order that the structure should be seen in 

 perfection, the head ought to be held under water during 

 examination, the beak widely opened and closed, and the 

 finger be used as well as the eyes. 



The accompanying illustrations are taken from sketches 

 made at the Zoological Gardens, in order to show the extra- 

 ordinary attitudes into which this bird throws itself, and 

 especially the power of balance on one leg when sleeping, and 

 the extraordinai'y contortions into which the bird can twist its 

 neck while the body is resting on the ground. 



Flying-Fish {Exoccetus volitans). — Waterton, while men- 

 tioning: the flight of this curious fish, does not touch on the 



