262 



BIRDS. 



[Chap. VIII. 



The upper mandible, which is convex in other birds, is 

 flattened in the flamingo, whilst the lower, instead of 

 being flat, is convex. To those who have had an oppor- 

 tunity of witnessing the action of the bird in its native 

 haunts, the expediency of this arrangement is at once 

 apparent. To counteract the extraordinary length of 

 its legs, it is provided with a proportionately long neck, 

 so that in feeding in shallow water the crown of the 

 head becomes inverted and the upper mandible brought 

 into contact with the bottom ; where its flattened surface 

 qualifies it for performing the functions of the lower 

 one in birds of the same class ; and the edges of both 

 being laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, by 

 the aid of its fleshy tongue, to sift before swallowing 

 its food. 



Floating on the surface of the deeper water, are fleets 

 of the Anatidse, the Coromandel teal the Indian hooded 

 gull 2 , the Caspian tern, and a countless variety of ducks 

 and smaller fowl — pintails 3 , teal 4 , red-crested pochards 5 , 

 shovellers 6 , and terns. 7 Pelicans 8 in great numbers 

 resort to the mouths of the rivers, taking up their posi- 

 tion at sunrise on some projecting rock, from which to 

 dart on the passing fish, and returning far inland at 

 night to their retreats among the trees which over- 

 shadow some solitary river or deserted tank. 



I chanced upon one occasion to come unexpectedly 

 upon one of these remarkable breeding places during a 

 visit which I made to the great tank of Padivil, one of 

 those gigantic constructions by which the early kings of 

 Ceylon have left imperishable records of their reigns. 



1 Nettapus coromandelianus, Gm. 



2 Larus brunnicephalus, Jerd. 



3 Dafila acuta, Linn. 



4 Querquedula crecca, Linn. 



5 Fuligula rufina, Pallas. 



6 Spatula clypeata, Linn. 



7 Sterna minuta, Linn. 



8 Pelicanus Philippensis, Gmel. 



