194 



Bird- Lore 



At this age the young Flamingo is nearly as active as a newly hatched 

 Wild Duck. Chicks whose plumage was not yet dry and which, therefore, 

 were not more than an hour or two old, crawled to the edge of the nest at 

 my approach and dropped over its side in an ill-judged effort to escape. 



This early development of the sense of fear in birds whose nesting-sites 

 usually exempt them from the attack of marauding animals, was surprising 

 and is not readily accounted for. So far as I observed, at this early age 

 these Flamingos had two enemies — fioods and Turkey Buzzards. The 

 former, as I learned from two sad experiences, often bring disaster to the 



YOUNG FL.-\NUNGO RETURNING TO THE NEST 



egg and the newly hatched chick ; the latter, in view of the comparative 

 scarcity of food for scavenging birds in the Bahamas, find a Flamingo colony 

 especially attractive, and, although I did not see them attack a young 

 Flamingo, the chorus of protests which arose from the parent birds when- 

 ever a Buzzard sailed over the rookery was sufficient to arouse suspicions. 



The first Flamingo rookery which I visited had been destroyed by rain 

 three days before my arrival. The second colony discovered, and the one 

 in which my studies were made, was also flooded, and at the time of my de- 

 parture some nests were submerged and all were surrounded by water. 

 Under these conditions eggs, of course, are ruined and very young chicks, 

 like the one shown in the photograph, are doubtless drowned. Chicks over 

 a day old can probably escape by swimming. 



The young Flamingo remains in the nest three or four days. Should 



