NOTES.
Reading edition
NOTES.
* See the Introduction.
* Flamingo is a species of bird between the web-footed genus and the waders; it takes its name from the singular colour of its plumage, being of a bright flame-coloured red. This bird is to be found both in the old and the new continent; in the old continent, only in the southern climates; and in the new, no-where to the north of Carolina. The flamingo is a gregarious animal, frequenting the sea-shore and the marshes occasionally covered by the sea. When the flamingo sets out upon a fishing expedition, the birds range themselves in file, so as, at a distance, to produce the appearance of an extended line of soldiers; nor do they employ this arrangement only when they seek their prey, but also in a state of repose. Sometimes, however, a flamingo may be found alone, or with only a single companion, especially when at a distance from the sea. When drawn up in their military array, there are always sentinels fixed, who, in case of alarm, utter a loud cry capable of being heard at a great distance, and considerably resembling the sound of a trumpet: the sentinel then takes wing, and all the others follow: but whenever it is possible to come upon a flock of flamingoes without being observed by the sentinel, it is easy to pounce upon them and kill a great number. The report of a musket never induces them to take wing, but rather stupifies them; and they remain immovable, with their eyes fixed on the sportsman. They avoid all inhabited places, and live on the small fry of fish, or shell-fish, and on insects that they find in the mud, into which they plunge their long and singular beak. The flamingo builds its nest on the ground, and generally in marshes; they scrape the mud into a heap with their feet, so as to make little hillocks of a conical figure, and a foot and a half in height; the hillock is a little hollowed at the top; and in this hollow the female lays two or three eggs at most, upon which she sits; her legs, which are very long, resting upon the level ground, or plunged Into the water, while with the back part of her body she keeps the eggs in a proper state of warmth. The egg of the flamingo is white, and of the size of a goose’s egg, but more elliptical. The young ones run with inexpressible quickness in a few days after their birth, but do not begin to fly till they have acquired their full size. Their plumage is at first of a pale gray approaching to white; it grows redder as the young flamingo increases in age; but nearly a year elapses before this bird reaches its full stature; at which time it first shews its robe of a brilliant flame colour. The carnation hue first appears on the wing, which is always of the brightest tint; it then extends to the rump, and afterwards shows itself upon the back and breast, and as far as the neck, which is of a delicate rose colour. The flamingo is considered as a delicate morsel for the table, having some resemblance to the partridge in flavour: the tongue, which is very large, is particularly esteemed. They differ in stature, largeness, and colour; but this difference depends upon the age of the animal: when in full growth, the flamingo is more than four feet long from the beak to the tail, and neatly six feet high to the extremity of the talons. The neck and legs are extremely long; the plumage varies in colour on the different parts of the body, from a bright vermilion to a beautiful rose colour, and the legs and feet are of the same tint. There are however a few black feathers in each wing; the beak in some is red, and in others yellow; but the extremity in all is black.
Noueveau Dictionnaire d’Historie Naturelle.
THE END.
Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor, Shoe-Lane, London.