. Unexplored Spain. Hunting; Natural history. CHAPTEE XXVI FLAMINGOES THE QUEST FOK THEIR "INCUNABULA" The flamingo stands in a class apart. Allied to no other bird- form—hardly so much as related—it may be regarded almost as a separate act of crea- Its nesting habits, tion. and the method by which a bird of such abnormal build could incubate its eggs, formed for generations a " vexed question " in bird-life. The story of the efi"orts made by British naturalists to solve the problem ranks among the classics of ornithologj'. The maris- mas of Guadalquivir were early kno
. Unexplored Spain. Hunting; Natural history. CHAPTEE XXVI FLAMINGOES THE QUEST FOK THEIR "INCUNABULA" The flamingo stands in a class apart. Allied to no other bird- form—hardly so much as related—it may be regarded almost as a separate act of crea- Its nesting habits, tion. and the method by which a bird of such abnormal build could incubate its eggs, formed for generations a " vexed question " in bird-life. The story of the efi"orts made by British naturalists to solve the problem ranks among the classics of ornithologj'. The maris- mas of Guadalquivir were early known to be one of the few Euro- pean incunabula of the flamingo ; but their vast extent—" as big as our eastern counties," Howard Saunders wrote — and the irregularity of the seasons (since flamingoes only remain to nest in the wettest years) combined to frustrate exploration. First in the field was Lord Lilford—as early as 1856; and both during that and the two succeeding decades he and Saunders (who appeared on the scene in 1864) undertook repeated journeys —all in vain. The record of these makes splendid reading, and will be found as follows :— Lord Lilford, " On the Breeding of the Flamingo in Spain," Proceedings Zoological Society of London, 1880, pp. 446-50; 265. A TYPICAL SIGHT IN THE MARISMA. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Chapman, Abel, 1851-1929; Buck, Walter John. joint author. London, E. Arnold
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