286 
PHCENICOPTER US. 
beautiful red colour. Father Dutertre makes the fame 
remark. But, whatever be the progrefs of this tint in the 
plumage, the wings firft acquire the colour, and are always 
brighter than the other parts. The red afterwards 
fpreads from the wing to the rump, and to the back and 
the breaft, and as far as the neck : only in fome indivi¬ 
duals there are flight varieties of lhades, which feem to 
follow' the differences of climate : for example, the fla¬ 
mingo of Senegal feems to have a deeper red, and that of 
Cayenne inclined to orange; but this is, perhaps, owing 
to age or fex. 
Their food is, in every country, nearly the fame. They 
eat ihell-fiffi, fifti-fpawn, and aquatic infefts; they feek 
them in the mud, into which they thruft their bill and 
part of their head ; at the fame time, they continually 
pufli their feet downwards, to carry the prey with the 
flime to their bill, which is fitted, by its indenting, to re¬ 
tain. any fubftance. They feem fond of a frnall feed, fays 
CatefDy, like millet, that they bring up by thus puddling 
in the mire; but this is probably the eggorfpawn of fome 
kifeCt or filh ; for the flies and gnats are as abundant in 
the overflowed plains of America as in the low grounds 
of the north, where Maupqrtuis favv whole lakes covered 
with fuch eggs, much refembling the grains of millet. In 
the ifiands of the new world, thefe birds may find abun¬ 
dance of this fort of food ; but, on the coafts of Europe, 
they fubfift on filh, the indentings of their bill fqrving 
like teeth to hold their flippery prey. They appear to 
prefer the fea-ffiore: and haunt more conftantly the in¬ 
lets, fait marfhes, and low coafts ; and it has been ob- 
ferved, that, in rearing them, they require falt-water to 
drink. 
Thefe birds always go in flocks; and, to fi!h, they are 
faid to form themfelves into a regular line, which, at a 
diftance, has a lingular appearance, like a rank of fol- 
diers. This propenfity to difpofe themfelves in ranks 
ftill adheres to them, when they repofe on the beach, 
Roberts fays, they ufually reft upon their legs, one againft 
the other, in a Angle line; in this fituation, any perlon, 
at the diltarice of half a mile, would take them for a 
brick wall, becaufe they are exaftly of the fame colour. 
They ftation fentinels, and keep a fort of guard, as ufual 
with all gregarious animals. When they are engaged in 
filhing, with theirheads plunged in the water, one of them 
remains fentry, keeping his head ere£t: on the leaft me¬ 
nace of danger, he gives a loud cry, audible at a great 
diftance, when inftantly the whole flock rifes, and pre- 
ferves, in its flight, an order fimilar to that of the cranes. 
Yet thefe birds, if fuddenly furprifed, remain ftupid and 
motionlefs through fear, and aff ord the fowler time toknock 
them down one after another. Of this we are informed 
by Dutertre, and it may alfo reconcile the oppofite ac¬ 
counts of navigators; fome reprefenting the flamingos as 
timorous birds, which can hardly be approached, while 
others aflert that they are heavy and ftupid. 
Their flelh is much efteemed. Catefby compares it to 
that of the partridge; Dampier fays, that it has a very 
good flavour, though lean : Dutertre found it to be ex¬ 
cellent, notwithftanding a flight marlhy tafte; and mod 
travellers give the fame account. The ancients fpeak of 
them as being exquifite game. When Caligula had 
reached fuch an height of folly as to fancy himfelf a divi¬ 
nity, he chole the phcenicopterus and the peacock as the 
moft exquifite vidims to be offered up to his godfhip ; and 
the day before he was maflacred, fays Suetonius, he was 
befprinkled at a facrifice with the blood of a phcenicop¬ 
terus. Philoftratus reckons them among the delicacies 
of entertainments. Juvenal, upbraiding the Romans 
with their wafteful luxury, fays, that they cover their ta¬ 
bles with the rare birds of Scythia, and with the phceni¬ 
copterus. Apicius defcribes the fcientific mode of lea- 
foning them ; and it was this man, fays Pliny, that difco. 
vered in the tongue of the flamingo that exquifite reliflt 
which recommended it fo highly to the epicures. Lam- 
pridius reckons among the extravagancies of Heliogaba- 
lus, his ordering for his table difhes filled with the 
tongues of the phcenicopterus. Suetonius fays, that Vi- 
tellius, bringing together the delicacies of all the parts of 
the world, caufed to be ferved up at his table, at once, 
the livers of fcari, the roes of murtenae, the brains of phea- 
fants and peacocks, and the tongues of flamingoes ; and 
Martial, upbraiding the Romans for their deftruftive 
tafte, makes this bird complain in the following Jines ; 
Dat mi/ii penna rubens nomen; fed lingua gulofis 
Nojlra fapit. 
Though from my beauteous plumes I gain my name, 
My tongue, alas ! is moft the glutton’s aim. 
A plate of flamingo-tongues, according to Dumpier, 
would be a difh fit for the king’s table. Several modern 
navigators, whether from the prejudice derived from an¬ 
tiquity, or from their own experience, commend the deli¬ 
cacy of that morfel. 
The fkin of thefe birds, which is well clothed with 
down, ferves for the fame purpofes as that of the fwan. 
They may be eafily tamed, either by taking them young 
from the neft, or by enfnaring the adults in gins, or any 
other way; for, though very wild in the ftate of liberty, 
the flamingo, when once caught, is fubmiffive, and even 
affeflionate. In faff, it has rather a timorous than a lofty 
fpirit; and the fame fear which prompts it to fly, fubdues it 
after it is taken. The Indians have completely tamed them. 
Peirefc faw them very familiar, fince he gives feveral par¬ 
ticulars of their domeflic life. They eat more in the 
night, he fays, than in the day, and foak their bread in 
water. They are fenfible to cold, and creep foclofetothe 
fire as to burn their feet; and, when one leg is difabled, 
they walk on the other, and afilft their motion by ufing 
their bill, like a crutch, on the ground. They fleep lit¬ 
tle, and reft only on one leg, the other being drawn un¬ 
der {he belly. They are delicate ; and difficult to rear in 
our climates : it appears even, that, though pliant to the 
habits of captivity, that ftate is very unfuitable to their 
nature, fince they cannot fupport it long, but draw out 
a languifhing exiftence; for they never propagate when 
reduced to domeftication. 
The annexed Plate reprefents this beautiful bird ; and 
the Angular conformation of the tongue is fliown fepa- 
rately in three pofitions, the fame letters denoting the 
fame parts in each figure. Fig. i exhibits the under fide 
of the tongue next the under bill, in which a denotes a 
cartilaginous fubftance that covers the tip or extremity 
of the tongue: b, a glandulous fubftance at its balls : e, 
the horns of the os hyoides. In fig. 2, the upper fid^ of 
the tongue is fairly delineated, on which are feen two 
rows of ftrong papillae nervete; their apices, or points, 
turning inwards, for the better retention of the prey. In 
fig. 3, the tongue is drawn in a lateral view, to fhow the 
true figure of thefe papilla;, which being booked and 
turned backwards, in a great meafure prevent the return 
of any little animal fwallowed alive, which they feed 
upon. 
2, Phoenicopterus Chilenfis, the Chilian or white¬ 
winged flamingo: quill-feathers white. A plienicnpter , 
i. e. “ red-wing,*•’ with white wings, feems a very abfurd 
appellation: this fpecies, however, which haunts the 
lakes of Chili, is obferved conftantly to retain a fnowy 
whitenefs of wing, with the other parts of a beautiful 
rofe-colour, and much more delicate than the flame co¬ 
lour of the red kind. Their habits and economy, how¬ 
ever, are ftridtly correfpondent with the preceding fpe¬ 
cies, and they are nearly as large. Their flefn is efteemed 
more delicate and the feathers are prized by the natives 
as ornaments in their drefs. It was not till very lately 
that this fpecies was afcertained. 
PHCENI'CijM, in ancient geography, a town cf Arabia 
Felix, upon the coaft of the Elanitic gulf, between Hip¬ 
pos and Ahaunathi. Ptolemy. 
PHCENPCUS MON'S, a mountain of Afia Minor, in 
Lycia. According to Strabo, it was alfo called Olympus. 
PHCE- 
