UNNATURAL NATURAL HISTORY 57 
of mud and measuring a foot or more in height, 
upon the summit of which the female deposits 
her eggs. “ When the bird is sitting,” to 
quote from a popular Natural History book 
published less than a score of years back, 
6 4 she has her legs stretched out behind, hang¬ 
ing in the air (that is to say, unsupported), 
like the arms of a man when he puts them 
behind his back and throws his shoulders 
forward ”; while another variety of this fic¬ 
tion is to the effect that the bird straddles 
across her nest and reposes upon the top 
with her long legs dangling one on either 
side. 
As a matter of fact there is nothing unusual 
about the nesting habits of the flamingo, and 
when incubating her eggs the female squats 
down upon them, and folds up her legs beneath 
herself. 
The tails of animals appear to have been 
a source of inspiration for imaginative writers 
to exercise their gifts upon, and it has often 
been stated that the beaver uses its caudal 
appendage as a sort of mason’s trowel for the 
purpose of constructing the mud walls of its 
dam. The lion has also been credited with 
the habit of utilizing its tail for the purpose 
of lashing itself into a state of fury, the small 
and spur-like nail situated upon the end of 
