Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/237

 194 Bird- Lore

At this age the young Flamingo is nearly as active as a newly hatched Wild Duck. Chicks whose plumage was not yet dry and which, therefore. were not more than an hour or two old, crawled to the edge of the nest at my approach and dropped over its side in an ill-judged effort to escape.

This early development of the sense of fear in birds whose nesting-sites usually exempt them from the attack of marauding animals. was surprising and is not readily accounted for. _So far as I observed. at this early age these Flamingos had two enemies—ﬂoods and Turkey Buzzards. The former. as I learned from two sad experiences, often bring disaster to the

\‘ouxc FLAMXNCD RETURNING Tn THE NEST

egg and the newly hatched chick : the latter. in view of the comparative scarcity of food for scavenging birds in the Bahamas, ﬁnd a Flamingo colony especially attractive, and, although I did not see them attack a young Flamingo, the chorus of protests which aroSe from the parent birds when- ever a Buzzard sailed over the rookery was suﬂicient to arouse suspicions.

The ﬁrst Flamingo rookery which Ivisited had been destroyed by rain three days before my arrival. The second colony discovered. and the one in which my studies were made, was also ﬂooded, and at the time of my de- parture some nests were submerged and all were surrounded by water. Under these conditions eggs, of course. are ruined and very young chicks. like the one shown in the photograph. are doubtless drowned. Chicks over a day old can probably escape by swimming.

The young Flamingo remains in the nest three or four days. Should

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