ripe blackberries in
the hedges, or, later in the year, after sloes and haws. The root of the
buttercup is also a very favourite food of the pheasant, and they will
eat greedily of acorns. When kept in confinement, the young birds
require very careful feeding with ants' eggs, and many other kinds of
soft provision.

[Illustration: THE FLAMINGO.]

THE FLAMINGO.

Is not this a beautiful bird, though rather singular in its appearance?
To see it in perfection we should have to travel at least as far as
Sardinia, and possibly to Africa, its native country. Observe its
wonderfully long and slender legs. They are so formed as to enable it to
wade into morasses, or even rivers, in quest of food, but it can also
swim, when so disposed, being perfectly web-footed. The beak of the
flamingo is not less remarkable than its legs, and it seems puzzling,
until we know the truth, how the bird can gather up its food from mud
and water, with that awkward turned-in bill. But the fact is, that the
flamingo feeds very differently to other birds, turning the back of its
head to the ground, and spooning up the mud or water in which it finds
its sustenance with the upper mandible. It is able to do this very
easily from the unusual length of its neck, and the beak is provided
with the means of filtering the mud, as I told you that of the duck is
also. But in this instance the apparatus provided is said to act more
like the whalebone sieve possessed by the whale. The brilliant plumage
of the flamingo is very beautiful. M. de la Marmora, in his "Voyage to
Sardinia," speaks in great admiration of the effect produced by a flock
of flamingoes in the air. These birds are gregarious--that is, they live
in large companies, and when returning from Africa to the borders of a
lake, which is one of their favourite haunts, near Cagliari, all the
inhabitants are attracted by the splendour of their appearance. Like a
triangular band of fire in the air, they gradually come onwards, until
within sight of the lake. Poised on the wing for an instant, they hang
motionless over the end of their weary flight; then, by a slow circular
movement, they trace a spiral descent and range themselves like a line
of soldiers in battle array upon the borders of the lake. But no one
dares approach them more nearly, for the air from the lake is at this
season, though perfectly harmless to the flamingo, deadly poison to a
human creature.

Taught by God, the flamingo h