xxvrri BEAKS 351 



Zambesi in 185^^ : lie gives an interesting account of 

 tlieir nesting liaLits. The nests are only little IkjUows 

 on the sand-baiiks without anj^ attempts at conceal- 

 ment. The young are nnn-e helpless than the stork in 

 the fal)le with the flat dishes, and must have cver3''thing 

 conveyed into their mouth by the parents. 



Ornithologists have often ai'gued among themselves 

 whether flamingoes are long-legged ducks or duck-l:)illed 

 storks : this question has never Ix-en setth'd. No one 

 can deny that these long-legged a.nd long-necl\ed l)irds 

 are particularly attractive on account of their curious 

 shape, their jjeautiful coloration, and the strange 

 modification of their beaks which enables them to 

 dabble in the mud and sift out the nutritious particles 

 like ducks. When the duck is busy with the mud, the 

 bill is so arranged that the lower half is lowermost ; 

 in the case of the flamingo, the terminal half of the 

 beak is bent at such an anode that when eno-aged in 

 mud-sifting, or in preening their feathers, tlie upper half 

 of the beak is lowermost and the upper half of the 

 beak fits into the lower, which is the reverse of the 

 conditions found in birds generally. The odd shape of 

 a flamingo's head and its apparent clumsiness on 

 the end of a long neck reminds me of a golf-idub. 



The long neck and legs of the flamingo appear to 

 some observers as awkward appendages to this l)ird. 

 This is not the case. When flamingoes fly, the neck is 

 stretched out in front and the legs behind, so that in 

 full flight the head, neck, l)ody, and legs form one 

 straight Hire. The birds arise with difficulty from the 

 marshes, uttering their kronk-kronk-kronk like a 

 bronchitic fog-horn. Flamingoes appear awkward when 

 they alight in the marsh, letting down their long legs 

 and drawing them up again as if ashamed of possessing 

 such things, like dainty young ladies in a drawing-room 

 who have recentlj'' been put into long skirts and 

 petticoats. 



Many questions have been asked concerning the 



