FLAMINGOES.
On account of the swan-like neck and "strainers" along the edges of the beak, these birds have been regarded as long-legged members of the Duck Tribe, but they seem more nearly related to the Storks.
The eggs, two in number, are peculiar in that they are encased in a thick outer chalky coat, which on removal reveals a greenish-blue shell.
The characteristic crooked beak of the adult is not at all apparent in the young bird, and only appears as it approaches maturity.
Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park.
EUROPEAN FLAMINGOES.
These birds breed in the South of France and Spain.
The huge flocks in which these birds consort are graphically described by Mr. Abel Chapman as follows: "In herds of 300 to 400, several of which are often in sight at once, they stand feeding in the open water, all their heads under, greedily tearing up the grasses and water-plants from the bottom. On approaching them, which can only be done by extreme caution, their silence is first broken by the sentries, who commence walking away with low croaks; then hundreds of necks rise at once to full extent, every bird gaggling its loudest, as they walk obliquely away, looking back over their shoulders, as though to take stock of the extent of the danger. Pushing a few yards forward, up they all rise, and a more beautiful sight cannot be imagined than the simultaneous spreading of the crimson wings, flashing against the sky like a gleam of rosy light. In many respects these birds bear a strong resemblance to geese. Like them, flamingoes feed by day; and great quantities of grass, etc., are always floating about the muddy water when a herd has been feeding. Their cry is almost indistinguishable from the gaggling of geese, and they fly in the same catenarian formations."
The Spoonbills and Ibises also belong to the Stork Tribe. The former are remarkable chiefly for the strange spoon-shaped bill: one species, a few hundred years ago, nested in England. This remarkable beak is associated with a peculiar method of feeding, well described by the late Mr. Wolley. During the operation, he says, "the beak was passed sideways through the water, and kept open till something palatable came within its grasp; but the action by which the bird effected this was most singular; for instead of turning only its head and neck, it turned its whole body from left to right and from right to left, like the balance-wheel of a watch; its neck stretched out and its beak immersed perpendicularly to about half its depth: this semicircular action was kept up with great vigour and at a tolerably quick march."