Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/240

 Young Flamingos 107

treads water or dances when feeding. to ﬂoat its food oﬁ [lIC bottom so that it can be more readily secured.

A curious habit of some young birds which I brought with me for pur- poses of study. consisted of an apparent attempt to feed one another. An accompanying photograph depicts two birds in the act. and renders further description unnecessaryt At such times the birds uttered a rattling cluclt which was heard on no other occasion.

The note of very young birds is a puppy-like barking. This is soon fol- lowed by a kind of squealing whistle. and this. in turn. by a chirruping crow which persists until the bird is at least two months old. The whistling note was the characteristic one at the time of which 1 write. and, under

YOUNG FLA» cos I" A FLOUDED ItooitEki'

proper conditions, the chorus of young birds could be plainly heard. day or night. at my tent a mile away. As the snowy natal down of the Flamingo chick increases in length it becomes much grayer. while the bill and feet change to lead—color. At the age of ﬁve or six WEeks this down is pushed further outward by the second plumage. which ﬁrst appears upon the shoulders. This second plumage is grayish brown streaked with black above, the under parts being much paler. The wing-coverts and under parts are delicately tinted with pink. This plumage is followed by the plumage of the adult. which is evidently acquired in late autumn or early winter. since. with one exception. all the several thousand birds I saw in May and June were in full plumage.

It is when the young Flamingo is in the second. or brown. plumage. and before he has acquired the power of ﬂight. that he is most harassed by his unnatural hut worst enemy—the Bahaman negro. The birds still remain