they returned, marching slowly forward 

 to their nests. As the birds came to 

 their nests each one touched the nest or 

 Ggg with its bill, then stood upon the 

 edge of the nest, and, honking loudly, 

 they moved their wings about for a mo- 

 ment and then one by one they dropped 

 upon their nests. A peculiar wriggling 

 motion followed, evidently to get the 

 egg in close contact with the body, and 

 then the great colony became motionless, 

 save for the waving about of the long 

 necks, as a bird drank from some nearby 

 pool of water, picked up some stray mat- 

 ter near its nest, or sparred with some 

 one of its near neighbors. Here and 

 there a bird was observed adding mud 

 to its nest, which it did with its bill, the 

 bill and feet being used in pressing the 

 fresh clayey material to its nest. 



The nest of the American Flamingo 

 ranges from six to thirteen inches in 

 heighth, while the diameter at the top is , 

 from ten to fourteen inches, and thirteen 

 to twenty-two inches at the base. The 

 top has a slight depression, scarcely 

 more than an inch in depth, which is not 

 lined with any substance, and in which 

 the single white egg is laid. The height 

 of the nest would seem to be determined 

 by the height to which the water norm- 

 ally rises, an instinct probably acquired 

 by the species by reason of many catas- 

 trophes in the form of exceptional high 

 tides and excessive rain falls. Both 

 sexes incubate the eggs, but only one 

 bird is near the nest at one time. Mr. 

 Chapman records that the setting or 

 brooding bird was relieved in the early 

 morning and late afternoon. The rook- 

 ery at these times of changing is said to 

 present a very remarkable scene, the 

 birds coming and goine^ in lots of fifty 

 or more. The young bird when hatched 

 is covered, with down and is white 

 without color of any kind. For its first 

 meal it receives from its parents a quan- 

 tity of regurgitated liquid food. After 

 this meal it eats its own egg shell and 

 then proceeds to feed on its own ac- 

 count. Unlike the parent bird, which 



has a peculiar bent bill, the bill of the 

 young Flamingo is straight and it picks 

 up its food like the beach birds for a 

 period of about three weeks, when the 

 bill begins to assume the bent form of 

 the parent and the feeding habits are 

 changed correspondingly. 



The feeding habits of the adult birds 

 are very curious and interesting. Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Chapman the food of the 

 Flamingo is always obtained under 

 water where it is reached for by the long 

 neck. The feeding is often carried on 

 in water several feet deep, and the bird 

 when thus engaged shows only its body 

 above the water, the legs and neck being 

 submerged, the bird, in fact, standing on 

 its head. The shells are sometimes 

 partly or wholly buried in the mud, and 

 the Flamingo loosens them by perform- 

 ing a treading motion, appearing to per- 

 form a sort of dance. When feeding, 

 the Flamingo moves the upper part of 

 its bill, the lower portion being unmov- 

 able, thus differing in this respect from 

 other birds. 



Like many other conspicuous birds, 

 which nest in large rookeries, the 

 Flamingo is falling a prey to man's 

 cupidity and unless rigid restrictive 

 laws are enacted and enforced, this 

 beautiful and unique bird will ere long 

 be a thing of the past, following in the 

 footsteps of the great auk. The natives 

 of the Bahamas seek the eggs as well as 

 the young birds for food, and every year 

 the colonies grow smaller. As the 

 Flamingo has difficulty in raising its 

 one progeny on account of excessive 

 rains, storms and other natural causes, 

 it requires but little persecution on the 

 part of man to place this most interest- 

 ing bird on the list of ''animals which 

 have recently become extinct." It is 

 said by Mr. Hornaday, of the New York 

 Zoological Garden, that every year from 

 twenty to fifty birds are brought to New 

 York by dealers in wild animals, and 

 sold for prices ranging from twelve to 

 twenty dollars each.- 



Collins Tiiurber. 



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