6o THE AMERICAN FLAMINGO. 



give warning of danger is a mistake, as each adult, espe- 

 cially the male, acts as a guard to the entire flock. In a 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 ray 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 ofif, 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 their heads 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 



