F. E. Blaauw—Some Notes on the Argentinian Flamingo 81


In the same lagoon, which was apparently very shallow in some

places, stood numbers of Blackbanded Geese, Chlcejphaga disbar.

There were also several pairs of the Flying Steamer Duck, Tachyeres

'patagonicus and several Anas cristata.


In the year 1920 or 1921 I succeeded in getting two pairs of

Argentine Flamingos alive at Gooilust. One pair was in the adult

dress and one pair in the immature feathering. These last two

birds were greyish-white with a number of spots and stripes of

a brownish-black colour on the upper side and they had also greyish

legs and feet and white and black bills. The four birds did very

well and were fed on soaked wheat and dried ground shrimps, and they

fed the greater part of the day on the minute animals which they

found in their pond.


Towards autumn the birds moulted and the two adult ones improved

considerably in colour, the red “ paillettes ” and the red lengthened

wing coverts becoming gorgeously beautiful.


The young birds also began to show some pink, but it took years

before they had quite got rid of their immature dress, improving,

however, at every moult, so that at the present time they are perfect

specimens of coloration. Last autumn was favoured by very fine

weather and the month of August was particularly hot and I suppose

that the result of this is that the birds showed a coloration which

they had never shown before and which I never found mentioned

anywhere.


As a rule the legs of this species of Flamingo are bluish-grey or

slate colour with scarlet tarsal joints and feet. This autumn, however,

the upper parts of the legs from the red tarsal joints to the feathered

thighs became of a wonderful shining yellow colour with a greenish

shine in it, whilst under the joint the tarsus itself only showed the

slightest indication of this glorious coloration. Very likely this is

the usual thing for these birds to assume in the breeding season and

that the hot August and sunny autumn enabled the birds to show it

on this occasion. I have always hoped to see the birds nest but only

once a few years ago did they make any attempt at nesting.


That summer was rather sunny and warm and the water* in the

pond got very low and this induced one of the two pairs to make a


6



