THE LIVING WORLD. * 
375 
render them no less interesting than the varieties described in the foregoing 
pages. Most prominent among the wading 
birds is 
The Flamingo (Phoenicopterns roseus) 
of the America semi-tropical regions, which 
is more beautiful then its congeners found 
in Africa and 
South America. 
It has been 
classed with the 
anseres , or the 
goose tribe, but 
by arbitrary 
assignment 
rather than dis¬ 
coverable anal¬ 
ogy. The 
flamingo is very wild turkey. 
abundant about 
the Florida coast, where it is perhaps the most 
interesting of the many bright plumaged or curious 
birds of that region. Being very tall, (nearly 
hazel hen ( Tetrao bonasia). seven feet) with a long neck and longer legs, its 
movements are strange, though by no means awk¬ 
ward. When feeding it uses its upper mandible as a scoop, turning the head 
so as to receive the food within the basin of the upper bill. The tongue 
is thick and covered with stiff papillae which point backward so that what¬ 
ever enters the mouth is not likely to escape. It is a gregarious bird, 
always feeding in large flocks, over which two or more sentries are placed that 
keep a vigilant watch for the appearance of any enemy. Though its legs are 
seemingly abnormally long, they do not prevent the bird from sitting down m 
a comfortable position, but notwithstanding this ability the flamingo constructs 
a nest of mud and grass in the shape of a truncated pyramid about three feet 
high, the top of which 
is hollowed out. In 
this singular nest the 
bird lays from two to 
four eggs, upon which 
the female sits with 
her legs hanging awk¬ 
wardly on either side. 
The color of this bird 
is a beautiful scarlet 
or white, tinted with 
rose, sometimes almost mirror hen 
necklace HEN. approaching a light red. ( Polypledron chinquis). 
Closely allied to the , 
flamingo is the crane, of which there are several varieties and widely distributed, 
and which are described in the following pages. 
