AMERICAN FLAMINGO. 171 



flight they resemble Ibises, and they usually move in lines, with the neck 

 and legs fully extended, alternately flapping their wings for twenty or thirty 

 yards and sailing over a like space. Before alighting they generally sail 

 round the place for several minutes, when their glowing tints become most 

 conspicuous. They very rarely alight on the shore itself, unless, as I am 

 told, during the breeding season, but usually in the water, and on shallow 

 banks, whether of mud or of sand, from which, however, they often wade 

 to the shores. Their walk is stately and slow, and their cautiousness 

 extreme, so that it is very difficult to approach them, as their great height 

 enables them to see and watch the movements of their various enemies at a 

 distance. When travelling over the water, they rarely fly at a greater 

 height than eight or ten feet; but when passing over the land, no matter how 

 short the distance may be, they, as well as Ibises and Herons, advance at a 

 considerable elevation. I well remember that on one occasion, when near 

 Key West, I saw one of them flying directly towards a small hammock of 

 mangroves, to which I was near, and towards which I made, in full expecta- 

 tion of having a fine shot. When the bird came within a hundred and 

 twenty yards, it rose obliquely, and when directly over my head, was almost 

 as far "off. I fired, but with no other effect than that of altering its course, 

 and inducing it to rise still higher. It continued to fly at this elevation 

 until nearly half a mile off, when it sailed downwards, and resumed its 

 wonted low flight. 



Although my friends Dr. John Bachman, Dr. Wilson, and William 

 Kttnhardt, Esq. of Charleston, have been at considerable trouble in 

 endeavouring to procure accounts of the nidification of these birds and their 

 habits during the breeding season, and although they, as well as myself, 

 have made many inquiries by letter respecting them, of persons residing in 

 Cuba, all that has been transmitted to me has proved of little interest. I am 

 not, however, the less obliged by the kind intentions of these individuals, 

 one of whom, A. Mallory, Esq., thus writes to Captain Croft. 



"Matanzas, J2pril20, 1837. 

 "Capt. Croft, 

 "Dear Sir, — I have made inquiry of several of the fishermen, and salt- 

 rakers, who frequent the keys to the windward of this place, in regard to 

 the habits of the Flamingo, and have obtained the following information, 

 which will be found, I believe, pretty correct: 1st, They build upon nearly 

 all the Keys to the windward, the nearest of which is called Collocino 

 Lignas. 2ndly, It builds upon the ground. 3dly, The nest is an irregular 

 mass of earth dug in the salt ponds, and entirely surrounded by water. It 

 is scooped up from the immediate vicinity to the height of two or three feet, 



