\ 
THE PLAMINGO. 279 
necks^ scooping their food with their heads reversed and 
bent towards their feet. " The bill being crooked and flat- 
tened for accommodation to this reversed mode of feeding, 
when the head is thrust down into the mud-shoals and the 
sand-drifts the upper mandible alone touches the ground/^ 
Mr. Hill refers to the minute and interesting description of 
the tongue given by Professor Owen. He says: — "The 
spines with which the upper surface is armed, are arranged 
in an irregular and alternate series, and act with the notches 
on the edge of the upper mandible, on which they press 
when the bird feeds with the head reversed. In this re- 
versed position, the weight and size of the tongue become 
a very efficient instrument for entrapping the- food"^."" 
Dampier describes the nest as being formed of earth, in 
marshy places; and says that the birds, when hatching their 
eggs, place themselves astride on the nest, their long legs 
not allowing them to sit in the usual mannerf. 
Mr. Gardner, in his ^Travels in BraziF (p. 552), says 
that the muddy shores at Alcantara are frequented by great 
flocks of the Flmnicopterus Cliilensis, These birds roost 
among the mangroves, and are sought after by the inhabi- 
tants, who esteem their flesh excellent food. Dampier says : — 
* Gosse's * Birds of Jamaica/ p, 393. t New Voyage, p. 71. 
