BROODING AND FEEDING A CHICK 
The nests at this side of the rookery were 
below the average in size. Few of them 
reached a height of eight inches, while 
nests in the older part of this city of huts 
measured thirteen inches in height, with a 
diameter of fourteen inches at the top and 
twenty-two at the bottom. ‘The depression 
forming the nest proper was never more 
than an inch in depth, and was without 
lining of any kind. 
Apparently two factors enter into the 
flamingos’ type of architecture: they must 
build where there is mud, and at the same 
time erect a structure high enough to pro- 
tect its contents from any normal rise in the 
water due to tides or rainfall. 
After watching a nesting colony of fla- 
mingosinthe Bahamas for“ nearlyan hour,” 
at a distance of one hundred 
and fifty yards, Sir Henry 
Blake stated that the females 
sat upon the nests while the 
males stood up together, evi- 
dently near by. My dissec- 
tions, however, showed that 
both sexes incubate, while 
continued observation from 
the tent revealed the presence 
of only one bird of the pair in 
the rookery at the same time. 
The bird on the nest was re- 
lieved late in the afternoon 
and early in the morning. ‘The 
one, therefore, which incu- 
bated during the day fed at 
night, and his or her place 
was taken by another which 
A CHICK EATING 
ITS SHELL 
had been feeding during the day. Or, as 
eter put at ~ I do ink, sir, dat. when 
de lady fillymingo leave de nest, den de 
gen’leman fillymingo take her place, sir; 
NeSyacit ’ 
Morning and evening, then, there was 
much activity in the rookery. Single birds, 
or files of as many as fifty, were almost 
constantly arriving and departing, coming 
from and radiating to every point of the 
compass. 
Flamingos in flight resemble no other 
bird known to me. With legs and neck 
fully outstretched, and the comparatively 
small wings set half-way between bill and 
toes, they look as if they might fly back- 
ward or forward with equal ease. They 
progress more rapidly than a heron, and, 
when hurried, fly with a sing- 
ular serpentine motion of the 
neck and body, as if they were 
crawling in the air. 
As noon approached, one 
by one the birds disposed 
themselves for sleep. ‘The 
long necks were arranged in 
sundry coils and curves, the 
heads tucked snugly beneath 
the feathers of the back, and, 
for the first time, there was 
silence in the red city. Sud- 
denly—one could never tell 
whence it came—the honk- 
ing alarm-note was given. In- 
stantly, and with remarkable 
effect, the snake-like necks 
shot up all over the glowing 
175 
