60 THE AMERICAN FLAMINGO. 
give warning of danger isa mistake, as each adult, espe- 
cially the male, acts as a guard tothe entire flock. Ina flock 
of 25 birds, one-half of which are males, there is scarcely a 
moment that some bird does not have his head raised to 
survey the surroundings. I have often attempted to approach 
a flock when they were at rest, and have adopted every plan 
that I could invent to conceal myself or deceive them ; but 
generally without avail. 
My first plan was to put on a red flannel shirt, tie a red 
cloth around my head, get down into the water, and attempt 
to crawl up to them. This getting down into the water was 
frequently necessary, as the mud would be so soft that I 
could not wade, and the only way to get along was to hold 
my gun on my head with one hand, and with the other hand 
and my feet to work myself along like an alligator. But 
almost invariably, before I could get within 200 yards of 
the flock, some old bird, when he raised his head, would 
conclude that the red object did not look just like a Flamingo ; 
and although I ceased to move he would give that peculiar 
note of warning which sounds so much like the sharp 
guttural expression of the word “gong.” Instantly every 
head would be raised, and the whole flock would either take 
wing or, after a moment’s observation, would walk off, led 
by some patriarch, with that stalking dignity known only to 
the Flamingo. 
My next plan was to take some limbs of bushes, tie them 
together so that they could be moved in front of me, to 
shelter me from view, get down in the water the same as 
before, and push these bushes ahead of me—watching to make 
a move only when the birds all had theirheads down. This 
I found much the easier plan, as it gave me an opportunity 
of resting my gun on the bushes when I became exhausted ; 
and if the birds were not too far from shore they did not 
seem to notice it as much as they had noticed me dressed 
in my red flannels. As an illustration of the watchfulness 
of the birds I would say that often it would take me half an 
