344 



larger coverts almost entirely brown; axillaries pale pink; base of the bill dull pinkish; legs dull 

 plumbeous. 



Young in down (Kirghis steppe). Covered with close down, in texture like that on a young Swan; entire 

 plumage white, the upper parts slightly tinged with dusty grey. 



This curious bird inhabits Southern Europe, the entire continent of Africa down to the Cape 

 colony, and Asia as far east as into India ; but it very rarely ranges even into Central Europe. 



It has not been met with in Great Britain or north of the Baltic ; but it has occurred, as a 

 rare straggler, in Germany. Mr. A. von Homeyer states (J. f. O. 1870, p. 230) that an adult 

 bird was caught alive at Treptow a. Rega, in Pomerania, in September 1869 ; and, according to 

 Naumann, one was shot at Alzey, on the Altrhein, on the 10th of April, 1728 ; and in the hot 

 summer of 1811 a flock of twenty-seven were seen on the Rhine, first at Kehl and then at 

 Gambsheim, of which five females and a male were shot. In the same season a number of these 

 birds were seen passing over Bamberg on the 25th June, and two were noticed from the 14th to 

 the 16th of July at Schierstein, and a few days later at Idstein. All these birds were immature 

 examples in the plumage of the second year. 



It does not appear to have occurred in Holland or Belgium ; but it is tolerably common in 

 the south of France, and is said to inhabit the marshes on the coast of the Mediterranean from 

 Hyeres to Perpignan, and in considerable numbers the marshes of the Camargue and Aigue- 

 Mortes. M. Adrien Lacroix says that it is becoming very rare in the French Pyrenees, though 

 about twenty years ago it used to be often seen in Herault. It still nests, he adds, in the 

 Pyrenees Orientales. 



In Spain and Portugal the Flamingo is common in suitable localities, and certainly breeds 

 there. Mr. Howard Saunders, who has endeavoured to discover its breeding-haunts, writes 

 (Ibis, 1871, p. 394) : — " My principal aim during the past season has been the discovery of the 

 breeding-places of this bird ; but, owing to the drought, all the efforts of my cazadores have been 

 unavailing; and I do not think any have nested within thirty miles of Seville for several years. 

 Failing personal observation, I translate part of a letter from Manuel, in reply to a severe cross- 

 examination, the composition of which must have caused the notary no small amusement ; for 

 my worthy friend is unacquainted with the arts of reading and writing, though quick enough at 

 his arithmetic : — 



" ' The Flamingo always makes its nest in the flattest part of the marsh, in places where 

 there is from three to four inches of water. The nest, which rises to about half a yard above 

 the surface of the water, is made of mud, like that of a Swallow ; its shape is almost cylindrical, 

 but somewhat wider at the base. There is a slight concavity for the eggs, oval in shape, like 

 the shape of the inside of a hat. 



" ' When the bird is sitting, she has her legs stretched out behind, hanging in the air (that 

 is to say, unsupported), like the arms of a man when he puts them behind his back, and throws 

 his shoulders forward. The complement of eggs is five ; and the birds, when once frightened 

 from their nests, do not return. To raise itself, the bird " scrambles " with its feet on the side of 

 the nest till it lifts its body clear, and then it takes wing.' 



"" This account tallies with the oral information I have already collected, and of which 1 



