PHCENICOPTERUS ROSEUS. 



that they appear, except where stained, to be pure white. They vary in 

 size very considerably, but average about IV Gx 2*3 inches. 



Although so connnon in many parts o£ India, they are nowhere easy to 

 get shots at, as they are extremely wary and cute birds. All over their 

 hal)itat shyness seems to be their most prominent characteristic, and a 

 close approach means the result o£ a stalk as carefully made as if the 

 stalker was after the wildest kind of deer or antelope. A mistake made 

 in attempting to conceal one's self, and the whole flock rise gracefully 

 into'the air aind remove themselves into safety. Typically their flight is 

 distinctly anserine, not perhaps exactly V-shape, but more in the form of 

 a curved ribl)on, the ends fluttering backwards and forwards as the birds, 

 more especially those at the two extremes, alter their position. As a 

 matter of fact, diflerent writers have declared the bird's flight to vary very 

 much. Some have said that in no respect does the flight of these birds 

 resemble that of Ducks or Geese, bat that, rising in one indiscriminate 

 mass, they continue their flight as they rise ; others, on the other hand, 

 say that the formation they assume is nearly as regularly V-shaped 

 as that adopted by Geese. Both are doubtless right, and it seems 

 probable that when flying for a short distance only they adopt no special 

 mode of flight, whereas on migration, or when moving to any distance, 

 their formation is much as already described. Flying or wading they 

 are a lovely sight, and, often as they have been described, no one has 

 yet been able to do justice to their beauty. In December 1881, when 

 passing through the Suez Canal, I observed more of these birds 

 congregated together than I had ever considered })Ossible, the banks m 

 some places looking as if they were covered with a rosy snow, so dense 

 were the birds packed. As the steamer gradually approached nearer and 

 nearer, the snow melted on its outskirts into a crimson flame as the birds 

 lifted their wino-s on takino- flioht, and in so doing exijosed their scarlet 

 coverts and axillaries. They made but little noise, the few calls that 

 were heard })eing very similar to those of a wild goose, but not perhaps 

 quite so discordant. 



Writing of these birds, Mr. Eagle Clarke (' Ibis,' 1805, p. 200) says :— 

 " To witness the; simultaneous unfolding of a thousand lovely crimson 

 and black pinions under brilliant sunlight is a sight the recollection of 

 wliich will not readily be effaced from our memories. The flock did not 

 run forward to i-iso on tlu; wing, but we noticed that they deliberately 

 turned and faced a gentle breeze that was blowing and rose with perfect 

 ease. We several times noticed the whole herd on the wing, but in no 

 inslance was any particular formation maintained.' 



