THE WONDROUS FLAMINGO 27 



describe it as a pipe with a narrow slit along the 

 upper side. In this pipe lies the tongue, and it 

 cannot get out, for it is wider than the slit, but it 

 can be pressed against the top to close the slit, 

 and then the lower jaw becomes an actual pipe. 

 The root of the tongue is furnished on both sides 

 with a loose fringe which we will call the first 

 strainer. The upper jaw is thin and flat and rests 

 on the lower like a lid, and it is beautifully fringed 

 along both sides with small, leathery points, close 

 set, like the teeth of a very fine saw. This is the 

 second strainer. To work the machine you dip 

 the point into dirty water full of water-fleas, draw 

 back the tip of the tongue a little, and suck in 

 water till the lower jaw (the pipe) is full, then close 

 the point again with the tip of the tongue and 

 force the water out. It can only get out by passing 

 through the first strainers at the root of the tongue, 

 then over the palate, and so through the second 

 strainers at the sides of the bill ; and all the solid 

 matter it contained will remain in the mouth. The 

 sucking in and squirting out of the water is managed 

 by the cheeks, or rather by the cheek, for a flamingo 

 has only one cheek, and that is situated under the 

 chin. When the bird is feeding you will see this 

 throbbing faster than the eye can follow it, while 

 water squirts from the sides of the mouth in a con- 

 tinuous stream. I should have said that the whole 

 bill is sharply bent downwards at the middle. 

 The advantage of this is that when the bird lets 



