Storks f^ Cranes 



248 



is the " tan-cho " — a very handsome bird with grey 

 plumage and white on the back of the neck and 

 throat ; the wing-quills and tail being black. 



As far as food goes, cranes are more convenient 

 to keep than storks and herons of different kinds, 

 as the latter need animal food, such as cut up rats, 

 liver, greaves, &c. — not always pleasant, especially 

 in hot weather ; whereas the cranes will do well 

 on large grain, pieces of bread, and soaked dog 

 biscuit. Flamingoes are beautiful in a collection of 

 the larger waders, but are more difficult to keep 

 in health ; for they need shrimps to a certain extent, 

 but boiled rice will suit them as a staple diet. 



One of the most wonderful sights in wild bird 

 life is a flock of flamingoes, with their delicate rosy 

 plumage, and long spindle legs of pale pink, as 

 they stand in soldier-like ranks in the shallows of 

 some mud flat or lake. As one steams along the 

 Suez Canal it is an inspiring sight. 



One morning the early light of an Eastern dawn 

 was breaking in through my open port-hole ; and, 

 rising from my berth, the delicious air of the desert 

 blew refreshingly into one's lungs. 



The whole sky was of a pale golden yellow, 

 deepening to rose colour, where the sun was about 

 to rise, but of a clear transparent smalt blue towards 

 the west. A pearly grey and gold light shimmered 

 over the sand and the shallow waters of the great 

 lake, which verges on the banks of the Canal. 



In the deliciously clear atmosphere a long line 

 of flamingoes, with their necks and legs outstretched, 



