Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/138

 (Phœnicopterus roseus).

inhabit the Western Hemisphere are likewise confined within corresponding limits. Lakes of salt or brackish water in the vicinity of sea-coasts are the favourite resorts of the Flamingoes. To lakes of fresh water they are only casual visitants, and never resort to them for any length of time. On the other hand, they are always very abundant on the sea-coast, more especially where the shores are flat and swampy. All are birds of passage, and the migrations of some occur with such regularity that the period of their return may be predicted with tolerable accuracy. According to Cetti, Flamingoes appear in Sardinia about the middle of August, and depart thence in March or the beginning of April. In South Italy they are stationary, remaining in the same locality all the year round. Only those who have had the good fortune to see these birds assembled in flocks, consisting of many thousands, can form an adequate idea of the beauty of their appearance. "Looking from Cagliari to the sea," says Cetti, "it seemed to be banked in with a wall of red bricks, or to be covered with countless numbers of roses. On nearer approach these proved to be Flamingoes ranged