THE FLAMINGO. 181 



Curious nest. 



but as- in picking up this, they necessarily also 

 suck in a great quantity of mud ; their bill is 

 toothed at the edges, in such a manner as to let 

 out the mud, while they swallow the grain. 



Their time of breeding is according to the cli- 

 mate in which they reside; in North America they 

 breed in our summer; on the other side the line 

 they take the most favourable season of the year. 

 They build their nests in extensive marshes, and 

 where they are in no danger of a surprise. The 

 nest is not less curious than the animal that 

 .builds it : it is raised from the surface of the pool 

 about a foot and a half, formed of mud, scraped 

 up together, and hardened by the sun, or the 

 heat of the bird's body ; it resembles a truncated 

 cone, or that of a hillock, with a cavity at the 

 top ; the hillock being of such a height as to 

 admit of the bird's sitting on it, or rather stand- 

 ing, as her legs are placed one on each side at 

 full length : on the top it is hollowed out to the 

 shape of the bird, and in that cavity the female 

 lays eggs, without any lining but the well ce- 

 mented mud that forms the sides of the building. 

 She always lays two eggs, and no more, which 

 are white. Linnseus says, that she will some- 

 times lay her eggs on a projecting part of a low 

 rock, if it happen to be sufficiently convenient 

 to admit of the legs being placed in this manner 

 on each side. 



The young ones' are a long while before ihey 

 are able to fly; but they very soon run with 



