166 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
it was in perfect order. I wanted one to make 
detailed studies of, and I took it back to the boat 
with me, and worked from this poor bird till all 
the crew covered their noses with their hands as 
they came near my model, and I myself could 
stand it no longer, and it was tossed over as food 
for the fishes, who later again would be food for 
others of its own kindred. Scattered about 
Angelino’s quarters were curious high crates made 
of split palm branches and lined with canvas. 
Asking what they were for, I was told they were 
the cages for the poor birds to be sent away—“ to 
America,” he said—and I could get no more out of 
him. We learned this man comes every winter 
from Alexandria, settles down in these remarkable 
quarters, and buys his Flamingoes from the local 
fishermen, who vary their ordinary pursuit by 
catching duck and any wildfow] that they can net, 
and the result is that, though years ago Flamingoes 
did nest on the lake, now not one does. 
The form of the bill in the Flamingo always 
suggests a man with a broken nose. The angular 
fall-back of the bill is nearly as singular as the 
upturned one of the Avocet. As the Flamingo 
obtains its insect and other food from the water, 
and the inside of its peculiar-shaped bill with 
