PHOENICOPTERIDAE 107 



of Ceutral I'eru, Uruguay, and perhaps Brazil, has green-grey 

 metatarsi with red joints, the black on the bill reaching above the 

 bend ; F. (Fhoerdconaias) minor, of the Ethiopian Eegion, Mada- 

 gascar, and North-West India, is very like P. roseus. P. (Phoeni- 

 coparrus) ancUnus, of the Andes of Bolivia, Chili, and Argentina — - 

 the largest species of the Family — and P. jamesi, of ,S(3uth Peru 

 and Chili, lack the hallux, and have the base of the bill yellow 

 and the middle red, with yellow and red feet respectively. 



The yoimg are chiefly greyish- or bufhsh-white, with brown 

 or black markings, rarely seen beneatb, and duller naked parts ; 

 the adults are uniformly downy, the nestlings white and woolly. 



Flamingos are shy birds, sometimes found singly, but usually 

 in immense flocks, which fly gracefully in V-shaped formations 

 witli alternate flapping and gliding motion, or circle around with 

 outstretched neck and legs after rising with some difficulty. 

 They spend their time chiefly in wading, the gait being slow and 

 stiff; yet they can swim on occasion, and give evidence of their 

 Anserine affinity by loud harsh cries, much resembling the 

 " gaggling " of Geese, and by their helpless state in late summer, 

 due to the loss of the flight-feathers. Aery curious is their 

 method of feeding, the head being completely inverted and directed 

 backwards, as they tramp about in the shallows and seek for the 

 aquatic herbage, frogs, crustaceans, molluscs, and so forth, which 

 constitute their food, the lamellae of the bill acting as a sifting 

 apparatus. The breeding colonies are situated on some lake, salt 

 lagoon, or " marisma " of little depth, with bare shores, the conical 

 or cylindrical mud nests being slightly hollowed at the top and 

 varying in height from two to fifteen inches according to the 

 amount of water. Several hundred individuals commonly breed 

 together, though they not infrequently change their quarters 

 annually ; they are said to fashion the nest with their feet, and lay 

 one or two eggs with bluish shell and chalky incrustation, incuba- 

 tion lasting four weeks or more. Mr. Abel Chapman,^ Sir Henry 

 Blake,^ and Mr. Maynard ' have shewn that the bird sits with her 

 legs doubled under her, and her head directed forwards, though 

 reliable persons have asserted that the feet hung down, and 

 Dampier (prior to 1683) alleged that the parent stood erect and 

 covered the structure with her rump. Eggs are often dropped 



' Ibis, 1884, pp. 88, 89. ^ Nineteenth Gent, x.xii. 1887, pp. 886-890. 



' Naturalist in Florida, 1884, No. 1. 



