112 
NATURAL HIST0A1*. 
But at present it is vevy different in that part of the world ; 
and the flamingo is not only one of the scarcest but of the 
shyest birds in the world, and the most difficult of approach. 
They chiefly keep near the most deserted and inhospitable 
shores ; near salt-water lakes and swampy islands. When 
seen by mariners in the day, they always appear drawn up in 
a long close line of two or three hundred together; and, as 
Dampier tells us, present, at the distance of half a mile, the 
exact representation of a long brick wall. Their rank, 
however, is broken when they seek for food ; but they al- 
ways appoint one of the number as a watch, whose only 
employment is to observe and give notice of danger while 
the rest are feeding. As soon as this trusty centinel per- 
ceives the remotest appearance of danger, he gives a loud 
scream, with a voice as shrill as a trumpet, and instantly the 
whole cohort are upon the wing. The flesh of the old ones 
is black and hard, though Dampier says, well tasted : that 
of the young ones is better. But, of all delicacies, the fla- 
mingo’s tongue is the most celebrated. In fact, the Roman 
emperors considered them as the highest luxury : and we 
have an account of one of them, who procured fifteen hun- 
dred flamingo’s tongues to be served up in a single dish. 
The tongue of this bird, which is so much sought after, is a 
good deal larger than that of any other bird whatever. The 
bill of the flamingo is like a large black box, of an irregu- 
lar figure, and filled with a tongue which is black and gristly. 
Their time of breeding is according to the climate 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 re- 
sembles a truncated cone, or one of the pots which we see 
placed on chitnnies ; on the top it is hollowed out to the 
shape of the bird, and in that cavity the female lays her eggs, 
without any lining but the well cemented mud that forms 
the sides of the budding. She always lays two eggs, and no 
more ; and, as her legs are immoderately long, she straddles 
on the nest while her legs hang down, one on each side into 
the water. The young ones are a long while before they 
are able to fly ; but they run with amazing swiftness. They 
are sometimes caught; and, very different from the old 
ones, suffer themselves to be carried home, and are tamed 
very easily 
