4’ THE NATURAL HISTORY 
_ The webs between the toes are-in the form of | 
a half- -moon, all the toes are fhort, but the back 
toe is remarkably fmall. The quill feathers in 
the wings are always black ; the reft of the wings, 
the back; and breaft, are Si a beautiful red colour. 
Flamingoes are found in warm climates, on the 
coaft of Africa, the Cape de Verd Iflands, and in 
Perfia by the fide of the Cafpian Sea, in South — 
_ America, and in many of the Weft-India Iflands. 
The Negroes are fond of the Flamingo, and 
refpect j it fo much, that they never fuffer it to be - 
killed; fo that it is quite familiar, and frequently 
- found near their habitations. In general, the 
Flamingoes are all the day upon the coaft, and in 
the evening they retire among the long grafs, 
which abounds in that country. 3 
They make their nefts in marfhy places, of 
heaps of mud and weed, about twenty inches — 
higa, like pyramids, or rather cones, with the. 
fummit broken off. , (fomewhat like the pots that 
are placed on chimnies, ) and hollowed like a bafin 
at the top; in this hollow the eggs are laid, with- 
out any preparation of feathers. The birds fit 
upon them, and their legs hang down on each 
fide, like the legs of a man aftride upon a cafk. 
Their nefts are always made in lakes or marfhes, 
and they lay but two BBS or three at moft. | 
. : Them” 
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