534i CLASS AVES. 



exist on the surface of the muddy bottom. Thus, then, the 

 apparent disproportion of its limbs is a proof that the motive 

 power of the universe embraces all the relations of organized 

 beings. 



Many authors have asserted, after Pliny, that these birds 

 devour the flies which hover around them ; but it is extremely 

 doubtful that birds so ill established on tottering legs, could 

 well devote themselves to an exercise of this kind, which, 

 moreover, could not take place in all seasons. It would 

 seem more natural to suppose, that certain motions of their 

 head, which perhaps have given rise to this opinion, were 

 merely intended to facilitate the introduction of small worms 

 into the gullet. 



Authors are but little agreed respecting the habits of these 

 birds. Some say that, to preserve their equilibrium, they are 

 obliged to keep their bodies half bent ; while others, among 

 whom is M. d'Azara, tell us, that they walk with a proud air, 

 and with long strides. If this last assertion be not very pro- 

 bable, it would appear that there can be no very great uncer- 

 tainty with regard to the rapidity of their flight, for which 

 their feet, stretched back, serve as a helm, and supply the 

 deficiency of length in the tail. According to M. d'Azara, 

 their cry, which may be expressed by the syllable gaa^ is 

 rarely heard. M. Descourtilz, on the contrary, who also dis- 

 agrees as to the sound, maintains that their cry is very trou- 

 blesome, and incessantly repeated by the bird, whose charac- 

 ter is very unquiet. These birds are monogamous, and 

 moult, according to M. Temminck, but once a year, in the 

 autumn. The eggs are five or six, according to many writers. 

 M. Descourtilz says, that they are but two or four, which in size 

 and colour resemble those of the red partridge ; and he adds, 

 that those eggs, negligently deposited on some little hillock, are 

 covered, like those of the flamingo, by the bird in a standing 



