152 BIRDS' NESTS 



of sticks, etc., in the mangrove trees and bushes, 

 building in societies, as is generally the case. 



As we have already dealt exhaustively with the 

 nests of the species included in the order Anseri- 

 formes, we may now pass them by, with one important 

 exception, however. The Flamingoes (Phcenicopterldae) 

 are included in that order, and their nests being 

 open structures may be conveniently described now. 

 The nests of these curious birds again illustrate the 

 fact so often brought before us in our study of 

 avine architecture, that many types of nests prevail 

 amongst closely allied groups, each type presenting 

 some special feature of adaptiveness to equally 

 special conditions of life. No more beautiful 

 instance perhaps could be furnished. Flamingoes 

 breed on vast mud flats, on low islands, and the 

 flat shores of lagoons and lakes where the water 

 is not only shallow, but often subject to periodical 

 change of level. No better nests than those made 

 by these birds could be imagined in such a locality. 

 They are simply conical pillars of mud with a 

 shallow cavity at the top for the eggs. When 

 built on dry mud the nests may be little more than 

 rings, or rather " soup plates " of mud, a few inches 

 above the level of the ground ; but in other cases 

 they are constructed in shallow water a foot or more 

 in depth, and then they rise from the bottom and 

 tower six or eight inches, or even more, above the 

 surface. These birds also breed in colonies of 



