ROSY FLAMINGO. 41 



spectacle disposed in a uniform and symmetrical line, representing a 

 small army in the order of battle. In Sicily tliey appear nearly every 

 year in tlieir passage^ and remain a short time in the marshes." 



My figure of the eg^ of the Kosy Flamingo is from a specimen 

 kindly sent me by M. de Selys-Longchamps, the distinguished 

 author of the "Faune Beige," and well known not only for his 

 devoted zeal in the cause of natural science, but also for his kind 

 and munificent liberality to its professors and students. The e^^ was 

 obtained from Marseilles, formerly a well-known locality for this 

 bird. 



Lieutenant-Colonel Irby, (in his "Ornithology of the Straits of 

 Gibraltar,") has the following: — -"The movements of the Flamingo are 

 certainly very irregular and perplexing, and no doubt influenced by 

 the amount of water in the brackish lagoons which they frequent. 

 Most of these lagoons, being formed of rain water, are brackish 

 from the salt contained in the earth, and in very dry seasons hold 

 hardly any water. 



**In very wet seasons the birds breed in the Marismas of the 

 Guadalquiver, and are said to nest very late (about June.) The 

 exact manner of nesting is at present unknown to ornithologists; 

 and he who first finds and describes it will have ^a feather in his 

 cap.' The eggs which I have seen are elongated, and of a white 

 colour with a chalky surface. Flights of Flamingos are frequently 

 seen passing near Gibraltar as early as the 4th. of February, and 

 as late as the 1st. of May; and they again appear in September, 

 when immature birds are met with. I have seen flocks of thousands 

 in the Morisma near the Isla Menor, and by the aid of a stalking 

 horse managed to shoot five at a shot. Usually they are extremely 

 wild and shy, except during actual passage, when they alight to 

 rest at the mouth of rivers. The note is not unlike that of the 

 Grey-lag Goose, [Anser cinereus,) and more than once at night I 

 have mistaken their call for that of the Geese." 



Mr. Savile E-eid, of the Royal Engineers, has the following in 

 his "Notes" about this bird: — "Small flocks annually pass over 

 Gibraltar in the spring. I saw two lots in 1870; and this year, 

 (1872,) on the 2nd. of April, Jose stalked a flock of about thirty 

 in the Guadaranque, and killed thirteen of them. I skinned three 

 or four of the best. The largest was five feet ten inches from tip 

 of bill to toe, four feet three inches from beak to tail. They were 

 in good plumage. The eye of these birds is remarkably small, the 

 tongue being large and thick. We tried Flamingo both roasted and 

 entree, but it was not a success." 



VOL. V. G 



