A Book of Birds

The Flamingo is most happy standing on one leg in a foot or two of water. There he waits patiently for any fish that may come his way. His colour may be pink or scarlet according to the part of the world in which he is born; and when he is standing motionless on the look-out for fish, his red body and long legs give him quite a military appearance—like a soldier at attention. The Flamingo prefers a warm climate, and by moving from place to place he manages to enjoy a continual summer-time.
The Vulture is a very useful bird, but he would not make a pleasant pet. His home is in the sunny lands of the south, where he is always very busy in tidying up for Dame Nature. When any poor animal is killed or dies of old age the news seems to spread like magic, for although not a single bird may be in sight, in the course of a few minutes Vultures come flocking up from all sides. And they never leave their banquet until they have eaten up everything but the bones.
The Magpie is not, as a rule, on good terms with his neighbours. He is very noisy, very mischievous, and very quarrelsome, and is not above stealing eggs from the nests of other birds. No doubt he clears the fields of a great number of grubs and slugs, but he does so much damage in the poultry-yard that he always goes the other way when he sees the farmer coming. His nest is built very cunningly of sticks and clay, and he surrounds it with sharp thorny twigs to keep out robbers like himself.
The Penguin is a kind of humpty-dumpty bird. He is far too fat to fly—the best he can do is to waddle. But his fat is very useful to him, for it is a kind of greatcoat, and helps to keep him warm while fishing in the bitterly cold waters around the South Pole. There is only one time, in fact, when the Penguin becomes lean, and that is when Mother and Father are bringing up their family. Then they seem to forget all about themselves, and while the little Penguins grow sleek and podgy, the poor old birds become so scraggy that their best friends scarcely know them.