. Birds and their ways; . his wouldbe no easy matter, as it would be sure,when collected, to drop out of the birdsmouth. Its instinct teaches it to turn itshead and scoop up the soft substanceson which it preys, using the upper partof the bill as a sort of spoon. Very fewbirds could do this ; but you see what avery long, slender neck the flamingo has—almost as slender as those remarkable odd bill can be made useful in vari-ous ways. A captive flamingo that hadlost a leg managed to walk very well withthe other by using its bill as a crutch, andit seemed to be quite as helpful as a woo
. Birds and their ways; . his wouldbe no easy matter, as it would be sure,when collected, to drop out of the birdsmouth. Its instinct teaches it to turn itshead and scoop up the soft substanceson which it preys, using the upper partof the bill as a sort of spoon. Very fewbirds could do this ; but you see what avery long, slender neck the flamingo has—almost as slender as those remarkable odd bill can be made useful in vari-ous ways. A captive flamingo that hadlost a leg managed to walk very well withthe other by using its bill as a crutch, andit seemed to be quite as helpful as a wood-en leg would have been. 4A wooden leg! exclaimed the two lit-tle ones. Oh, Miss Harson, did a birdever have a wooden leg? Yes, was the reply. Only the otherday I read of a crane that had one of hislegs broken and cut off above the knee,and it was furnished with a wooden legso nicely made that the bird could walk THE FLAMINGO. 3 and use it as well as if it had been anatural one. The children began to think that wonders. THE FLAMINGO {Phcenicopterus). would never cease in the way of birds ; andit certainly did look like it. The flamingo, continued Miss Harson, is also remarkable in having its feet web- 312 BIRDS AND THEIR WAYS. bed like those of the goose, as if intendedfor swimming, while its immensely longlegs belong to the class of waders. Itis never seen swimming, as its legs andthighs are sufficient to bear it into thosedepths where it seeks for prey. This birdis one of the tallest and most beautiful ofwater-fowl; and when it stands erect, it issix feet six inches high. Its legs comprisenearly three feet of this, and its neck isjust about as long. The flamingo used to abound on allthe coasts of Europe, but it is now foundchiefly in South America, though occasion-ally met with on the shores of the Mediter-ranean. 4 Its beauty, its size and the pe-culiar delicacy of its flesh have been suchtemptations to destroy or take it that ithas long since deserted the shores fre-quen
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1883
