44 FLAMINGO. 



to tail four feet two or three inches, and to the end of the claws more 

 than six feet. Bill four inches and a quarter long, and in construc- 

 tion different from that of any other bird ; the upper mandible thin 

 and flat, and somewhat movable, the under thick ; both of them 

 bending downwards from the middle ; the nostrils placed in a blackish 

 membrane ; from the base to the middle reddish yellow, the rest 

 black ; the base, and quite to the eye on each side, covered with a 

 flesh-coloured cere, or skin ; the neck slender, and of a great length; 

 the tongue large, fleshy, filling the cavity of the bill, having twelve 

 or more, hooked papillae on each side, turning backwards, and cartila- 

 ginous at the tips; the plumage deep scarlet, except the quills, which 

 are black ; from the base of the thighs to the claws thirty-two inches, 

 but the part which is covered with feathers is only three; the bare 

 part above the joint thirteen inches; and from thence to the claws 

 sixteen ; the colour of the bare parts is red ; and the toes are furnished 

 with a web, as in the Duck tribe, but deeply indented. 



This bird does not gain the full plumage till the third year: in 

 the first it is mostly greyish white, in the second the white is clearer, 

 tinged with red, or rather rose-colour, and the wings and scapulars are 

 red ; but it is not till the third, that a general glowing scarlet mani- 

 fests itself throughout ; the bill and legs, too, keep pace with the 

 plumage, obtaining colour by degrees, as the bird approaches to an 

 adult state. 



The Flamingo prefers a warm climate; it is seen in various parts 

 of Europe, not often beyond 40 degrees north ; known on the Coasts 

 of Spain,* Italy, and France, lying in the 31editerranean Sea; now 

 and then being seen at Marseilles, and for some way up the Rhone : 

 comes to Gibraltar annually in spring, from Barbary, generally about 

 the beginning of May, and remains all the summer; sometimes as 

 early as April, when from six to twelve or fourteen haunt the rivers 

 which run into the Bay, and marshy grounds of the neighbourhood, 



* About Valencia, in the Lake Albufere. — Dillon's Trav. 374. 



