PHCENICOPTERUS, Lin. &c. FLAMINGO.
Bill thick, strong, higher than broad, dentated, conical towards the point, naked at the base, upper mandible ab ruptly inflected, and bent down on the under at the tip; the under broader than the upper ; nostrils longitudinally placed in the middle of the bill, and covered by a mem brane; legs very long, with three toes before, and a very short one articulated high on the tarsus behind, the fore toes connected by a web which reaches to the claws; wings middle-sized.
P. ruber, Lin. &c. Red Flamingo. Quills deep black. This singular bird is scarcely so big as a goose, but has the neck and legs more disproportioned to the body than any other of the feathered race, the length from the end of the bill to that of the tail being four feet and two or three inches; but to the end of the claws six feet or up wards. The neck is slender, and of an immoderate length ; the tongue, which is large and fleshy, fills the cavity of the bill, has a sharp cartilaginous tip, is furnished with twelve or more hooked papill? on each side, which bend back wards, and it has a ball of fat at the roots, which epicures reckon a great delicacy. The bird, when in full plumage, which it does not attain till its fourth year, has the head, neck, tail and under parts of a beautiful rose-red, the wings of a vivid or scarlet red, the neck and scapulars rose-red, and the legs rosaceous. The young, before moulting, have their plumage cinereous, and a considerable portion of black on the secondaries of the wings and tail. At the ex piration of the first year, they are of a dirty white, with the secondaries of the wings of a blackish brown, edged with white ; the wing-coverts at their origin white, faintly shaded with rose colour, but terminated with black, and the white feathers of the tail irregularly spotted with bluish brown. At two years of age, the pink on the wings as sumes more intensity.
Flamingos affect the warmer latitudes of both continents, and are not often met with higher than the 40th degree, north or south. They are common on the African coast, and the islands adjacent to the Cape of Good Hope, and sometimes on the shores of Spain, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and even at Marseilles, and some way up the Rhone, but rarely in the interior of the continent of Europe, and sel dom on the banks of the Rhine. We trace them on the Persian side of the Caspian Sea, and thence along the western coast, as far as the Wolga. They breed abun dandy in the Cape de Verd islands, particularly' that of Sal, constructing on the sea-shore, but so as not to be flooded by the tide, a nest of mud, in the shape of a pyra midal hillock, with a cavity at top, in which the female generally lays two white eggs of the size of those of a goose, but more elongated. The structure is of a suffici ent height to admit of the bird's sitting on it conveniently, or rather standing astride, as the legs are placed, one on each side, at full length. The female will also sometimes
deposit her eggs on the low projection of a rock, if other wise adapted to her attitude during incubation. The young are not able to fly till they are grown ; but they can pre viously run with wonderful swiftness. In this immature state they are sometimes caught, and easily tamed, becom ing familiar in five or six days, eating from the hand, and drinking freely of sea-water. But they are reared with difficulty, being very apt to pine from want of their natu ral subsistence, which chiefly consists of small fishes, and their spawn, testacea, and aquatic insects. These they capture by plunging the bill and part of the head into the water, and, from time to time, trampling on the bottom to disturb the mud, and raise up their prey. In feeding, they twist the neck in such a planner, that the upper part of the bill is applied to the ground. They generally shun cultivated and inhabited tracts of country, and resort to solitary shores, and salt lakes, and marshes. Except in the pairing season, they are generally met with in large flocks, and at a distance appear like a regiment of soldiers, being often arranged in file, or alongside of one another, on the borders of rivers. When the Europeans first visit ed America, they found these birds on the swampy shores quite tamed, gentle, and no ways distrustful of mankind ; and we learn from Catesby that when the fowler had killed one, the rest of the flock, instead of attempting to fly, only regarded the fall of their companion in a sort of fixed as tonishment ; so that the whole flock were sometimes killed in detail, without one of them attempting to make its escape. They are now, however, extremely, shy, and one of them acts as a sentinel, when the rest are feeding; and the mo ment that it perceives the least danger, it utters a loud scream, like the sound of a trumpet, and instantly all are on the wing, and fill the air with their clamour. flamingos, when at rest, stand on one leg, having the other drawn up to the body, and the head placed under the wing. When flying in bands, they form an angle, like geese, and in walking they often rest the flat part of the bill on the ground, as a point of support. These beautiful birds were held in high estimation by the ancient Romans, who often used them in their grand sacrifices, and sumptuous entertainments. Pliny, Martial, and other writers, cele brate the tongue as the most delicate of eatables. The flesh is not despised, even in modern times ; but it is alleged by some of those who have partaken of it, that it has an oily and somewhat muddy flavour. That of the young is generally preferred to that of the adult bird.