332 
THE FLAMINGO. 
of a hillock, with a cavity on the top where the eggs are laid ; 
and the height of the hillock is such, that she can sit as 
comfortably on her nest as a horseman does on his saddle, 
leaving her legs to hang dangling down at full length on 
either side. 
The bill, misshapen as it is, can also, in case of necessity, 
he used for a very different purpose from that of feeding ; for 
one of these birds in confinement having been accidentally 
deprived of a leg, soon found a remedy by walking with the 
other, and using its hill as a crutch, and probably finding it 
as serviceable as a wooden leg, which, strange to say, has 
been supplied in a similar case. The circumstance is men- 
tioned by an eye-witness. # “ A Crane, having,” as he says, 
“ had one of his legs broken, and cut off above the knee, had 
a wooden leg and thigh, with a joint so accurately made, 
that the creature could walk and use it as well as if it had 
been natural.” 
We have alluded to the bright pink and scarlet colours of 
the Flamingoes, which give them a soldier-like appearance, in 
addition to further military habits they seem very generally 
to adopt. Not only do they always assemble in flocks, hut 
they form in long lines of regular rank and file, as well for 
the purpose of fishing, as when they repose on the strand. 
Still further : after the manner of experienced soldiers, they 
post sentinels, who keep a good look-out ; and, if anything 
suspicious attracts their notice, immediately send forth a cry 
like the sound of a trumpet, when the whole corps moves off 
in regular marching order. 
In the river Inhamhau, on the eastern coast of Africa, 
the officers of Captain Owen’s surveying- ships found them so 
numerous, that every shoal was covered with them, “ look- 
ing,” to use their words, “ at a distance, like large variegated 
plains, and, upon a nearer approach, resembling files of sol- 
diers. When the sun was shining upon them, nothing 
could surpass the beauty of their brilliant and dazzling 
appearance.” 
* Evelyn’s Diary , vol. ii. 
