246 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



soft mud at the bottom of the water. They eat after the 

 manner of a duck, their food consisting of such small fish as 

 they may catch, and the mollusks, crustaceans, and marine 

 insects which they may turn up in the mud at the bottom. 

 Their bill is so constructed as to sort the material, and to 

 collect the edible portion in the under mandible as in a 

 spoon. Their tongue is thick, of a soft, oily consistence, 

 and is covered with curved spines pointing backward ; it is 

 considered a very delicate morsel for the table. 



5. Flamingoes are not entirely nocturnal birds, but they 

 avoid the glare of the day. They fly low over the water, 

 but high over the land. Their mode of flight is by alter- 

 nately flapping their wings and sailing ; and, in alighting, 

 they generally sail round the place and come down in shal- 

 low water and wade to the shore. The neck of the bird is 

 very flexible, and it presents an exceedingly beautiful ap- 

 pearance as it is bent in graceful curves to preen every 

 part of its plumage. Its clumsy legs, which in flying are 

 drawn to the breast so as to be nearly invisible, are well 

 under control, for it can scratch its head with its toes as 

 well as a canary. 



6. George W. Curtis, in his "Nile Notes of Howadji," 

 gives the following description of a flight of flamingoes 

 which he witnessed in Egypt: "As we sat upon a green 

 clump on the high bank of the river, we saw a dark undu- 

 lating mass upon the edge of the fog-bank that was slowly 

 moving northward away. The mass, now evidently a flight 

 of birds, came sweeping southward toward us, high in the 

 blue air, and veering from side to side like a ship in tack- 

 ing. With every sunward sweep their snow-white bodies 

 shone like a shower of most brilliant silver stars. 



7. " There was a graceful, careless order in their flying, 

 and as they turned from side to side the long lines undu- 

 lated in musical motion. I have never seen movements so 

 delicious to the eye as their turning sweep. The long line 



