342 



THE RED FLAMINGO. 



The neck is long. The legs and thighs are of great length: the feel 



are webbed ; and the back toes very small. 



THE RED FLAMINGO. 



The body of the Bed Flamingo is about the size of that cf a 



Goose ; but its 

 legs and neck are 

 of such extraordi- 

 nary length, thai 

 when it stands 

 erect it is upwards 

 of six feet io 

 height. The body 

 is of a beautiful 

 scarlet. It is an 

 inhabitant of those 

 parts of America? 

 that are as yet bufc 

 thinly peopled. 



When the Euro- 

 peans first visited 

 America, they 

 found the Flamin- 

 goes on the shores 

 tame and gentle y 

 and no way dis- 

 trustful of man- 

 kind. If one of 

 them was killed, the rest of the flock, instead of attempting to fly, 

 only regarded the fall of their companion with a kind of fhied aston<- 

 iahrnent : another and another shot was discharged ; and thus the 

 fowler often levelled the whole flock, without on-e of them attempting 

 to escape. Now, however, they regard us with aversion. Wherever 

 they haunt, one of the number, it is said, is always appointed to watch 

 whrle the rest are employed in feeding ; and the moment he perceives 

 the least danger, he gives a load scream, in sound not unlike a 

 trumpet, and instantly the whole flock is on wing. They feed ira 

 silence ; but, when thus roused, they all join in the noise, and fill the 

 ftir with their screams. 



Their nest is of a singular construction. It is formed ot mu<J, in the 

 ghape of a hillock, with a cavity at the top. In this the female gen- 

 erally lays two white eggs, of the size of those of a goose, but longer. 

 The hillock is of such a height as to admit of the bird's sitting on il, 

 or rather standing, as her legs are placed one on each side, at full length* 

 Linnaeus tells us that she will sometimes lay her eggs on the project- 

 ing part of a low rock, if it happen to be sufficiently convenient to 

 admit of the legs being placed in this manner on each side. 



it is not until a long time after they are hatched that the young* 



