THE FLAMINGO. 
831 
during my stay at the lake of Mensaleh, I was unable to 
obtain any personal information on the subject. I beard 
this much, however, on all sides,—that the Flamingo 
breeds in April and May on the small islands in the lake, 
where it builds a flat nest of sedge and reeds, and lays 
from two to three eggs. I once extracted an egg from the 
ovary of a female which had been shot: it was pure white, 
the shell rather smooth, and scarcely smaller than that 
of our Goose. All Arabs, who were well informed on the 
subject of which I spoke, assured me that the Flamingo 
sat on her nest with her legs bent under her—and not 
like a man on horseback—on the top of a hillock of mud. 
As regards the rearing of the young, unfortunately I could 
glean nothing. 
I was more successful in learning the methods by 
which Flamingos are captured. I was well aware that 
these magnificent birds are much persecuted on account 
of the gastronomic value attached to their rose-red flesh, 
and have seen them brought to market by dozens, but I 
could not conceive how they were caught; this riddle, 
however, was one day solved for me by an old fisher¬ 
man ; the deed is done in the following manner:—At 
night a common fishing-net is stretched out between two 
boats, which sail down upon a flock of Flamingos: the 
frightened birds rise and become entangled in the net, 
whence they are extracted by the boatmen, who wring 
their necks. In this manner fifty or more are sometimes 
taken out of a single flock. The following mode of catch¬ 
ing these birds is still more extraordinary:—After having 
during the daytime ascertained the roosting-place of 
a flock of Flamingos, the hunter proceeds at night with 
the utmost caution, on a raft of reeds, to seek out the 
“tschausch,” or sentinel: he is discovered standing bolt 
5 u 
