62 THE AMERICAN FLAMINGO. 



Romano, and turned off into a narrow passage leading into 

 Caximbas Bay some ten miles north of Cape Romano. This 

 bay is a characteristic feeding-ground for the Flamingo, 

 whose food is small mollusks, crustaceans, and other marine 

 animals gathered from the mud. 



The bird is related to the Anatidce or duck family, crushing 

 its food between its mandibles and sifting out such portions 

 as it does not wish to swallow, like a duck. The throat is 

 so small that food must be thoroughly crushed before it is 

 swallowed. This leads the natives in the West Indies to 

 say that the Flamingo lives on dirt. The peculiar shape of 

 its beak is specially adapted to its manner of feeding. With 

 its long legs to wade, and its long neck to reach down into 

 the water to collect its food, it brings the upper portion of 

 the upper mandible directly on the bottom, so that it may be 

 almost literally said to stand on its head when it eats. It is 

 very interesting to see a flock feeding, especially when the 

 bottom chances to be a little hard, so that they have to dig 

 their food out from the earth. The water prevents their 

 scratching like a fowl, but they go through the same motions, 

 only not so fast, and as their long legs go up and down 

 it reminds one of a regiment of soldiers marking time. 

 After they have stirred up the earth for kwhile, they put 

 their heads down into the water, gather up the results of 

 their labor, and then " mark time " again, constantly swing- 

 ing around and gathering the earth up into a mound. When 

 they are through there will frequently be a mound five or 

 six inches high and three or four feet across. 



Caximbas Bay is perhaps five miles across in either direc- 

 tion, and the larger portion of it so shallow that a boat draw- 

 ing fifteen inches of water can only pass over it in high tide. 

 It is connected with the Gulf of Mexico by a narrow pass, 

 little more than loo yards wide. The bottom of the larger 

 portion of the bay is soft mud, which has evidently been car- 

 ried in through the pass from the Gulf, or brought down 

 from the neishboring: Mangrove islands where it has been 



