as, however, another means of security than
the malaria from the intrusion which its brilliant colouring would be
sure to draw upon it. In other respects, besides its red coat, it has
been compared to the soldier. When feeding or resting (which they do on
one leg, the other drawn up close to the body, and the head under the
wing), the flamingoes are drawn up in lines, and sentinels, very
watchful ones too, are placed to guard these shy and cautious birds. At
the first appearance of danger, the sentinel flamingo utters a loud cry,
much resembling the sound of a trumpet, upon which the whole flock
instantly takes flight, and always in the form of a triangle.

Do not you think sitting on her eggs must be rather cramping work for
the flamingo with those long legs? But I will tell you how cleverly she
contrives. Instead of building a nest on the ground, where she would
find it impossible to cower closely enough over her eggs to keep them
warm, the flamingo heaps up a hill of earth so high, that she can sit
comfortably upon it with her long legs dangling, one on each side. At
the top is a hollow just large enough to hold her two or three white
eggs. A full-grown flamingo stands between five and six feet high. There
is another species of this bird much smaller, called the little
flamingo. The Romans ate these birds, and Heliogabalus, the profane
Emperor, delighted in a dish of their tongues, which are large,
considering the size of the bird. In modern times, however, the flesh is
rejected as fishy, but the feathers are highly valued.

THE SWAN.

You are no doubt well acquainted with this beautiful bird, and have
perhaps fed some of its species, by the ornamental waters of the parks.
Or perhaps, and that is far better, you have seen it sailing
majestically down the river Thames, free and unconfined, enjoying its
perfect liberty. The swan has been called a royal bird, being formerly
regarded as the exclusive property of the crown, and even now there are
but few exceptions to the rule. The royal swans, that is those belonging
to the Crown, are marked in a particular manner on the bill, and every
year, on the first Monday in August, men, now called swan-hoppers (a
corruption of the old term swan-uppers, because they went up the
river after the swans), proceed up the Thames to mark the young swans
hatched during the year. The Dyers' Company and the Vintners' Company
also own swans in the Thames, which were granted to them