In its appetite the Hurgila is as great a glutton as our Heron. Nothing comes amiss to its all-digesting stomach.

The fourth genus, Jabiru, very much resembles the Storks, and appears to have similar habits, the chief distinction consisting in the form of the bill, which is rather fuller, and slightly curved upwards at the end. The skin of the neck is wrinkled, and so flaccid that it hangs down like the dewlap of a cow, and probably may be of the same use as the pouch of the Hurgila above mentioned. It is, indeed, from considering this dewlap as an air-vessel, that it derives its name Jabiru, which, in the language of the Guarani Indians, in South America, signifies anything inflated by wind; and they, like the Hurgilas, not only frequent marshes, but rise slowly to immense heights, where they will remain for a considerable time.

The Beak of the Jabiru.

We cannot take leave of the Heron family without putting our readers on their guard against a very dangerous in

stinctive faculty they seem to possess of depriving their assailants of eye-sight. If wounded, they will allow a dog to approach, and then, though apparently insensible, will in an instant, with unerring aim, dart at its eye with a force, rapidity, and certainty, which it is almost impossible to guard against. We remember a gentleman who narrowly escaped; he had, as he conceived, killed a Bittern, and deposited it in a large pocket of his shooting-jacket; when, fortunately, as he was walking on, happening to feel something insinuating itself between his arm and side, he, just in time to save his eye, caught sight of the beak of the Bittern, which had been only wounded, and was in the act of lancing itself, with the full elastic jerk of its long neck, towards his face. This faculty, however, is not entirely confined to either the Heron or Bittern; it extends itself to other species, as appears from the similar escape of a naval officer on the coast of Africa. "I winged," says he, "a beautiful white Aigrette (Egret) that was passing overhead,

and brought it to the ground; when, as I was in the act of picking it up, it struck at my eye with its beak, and had it not been for my glasses, must inevitably have reduced it to perpetual darkness." "I have since," he adds, "heard of a gentleman who, under similar circumstances, was not so fortunate; he still lives, and I shall feel pleasure if, by stating this incident, it should be the means of saving others from so distressing a circumstance." *

Of the fifth genus, Anastomus, or Open-Beaks, little is known, except that their habits and food are similar to those of the preceding genera. The beak is the prominent distinguishing feature; the edges of which, instead of closing throughout, meet only at the extremities.

The sixth and last genus is that of the Tantalus, all foreigners, inhabiting Asia, Africa, America, and Australia. They have feet, nostrils, and beaks like those of Storks, but differ from them in the form of the bill, the back of which is rounded, and its point curved towards the bottom. They frequent marshy spots, living on reptiles and fish. When their appetite is satisfied, they retire to high trees, where they remain in an erect attitude, the bill resting on the breast. They are simple birds, and may be easily shot.

* CAPTAIN OWEN'S Voyages.

CHAPTER XV.

Latirostral, Flat-beaked.—Boat-bill.-Spoonbill.-Flamingo.—Mode of Feeding.-Nests of.-Watchful Habits.-Tenuirostral, or Longirostral, Long, Slender-billed Birds.-Avoset.-Sandpipers.-Dotterel.-Preservation of its Young.-Dunlin's Nest and Eggs.-Plover. -Mode of Catching.-Ibis.—Mummies of.-Why held Sacred.

TABLE XXIV. (See page 20.)

ORDER 5. WADERS.-TRIBE 3. LATIROSTRES (Flat-beaked).

THE three genera of this Table have been included by some naturalists amongst the cultirostral, or cutting-beaked birds; but the general form of their beaks renders them easily distinguishable under the term latirostral, or flat-beaked. The Spoonbills, indeed, alone really deserve that title to the fullest extent; for the beaks of the Boat-bills and Flamingoes, though to a certain degree wide and flattened, have also a considerable degree of depth.

The Cancroma, or Boat-bill, so called from the boat-formed shape of its beak, resembles the Heron in almost every other particular, and, like that bird, will dart with fury at the object of its anger. It is found in the hot and damp parts of South America, frequenting the banks of fresh-water streams.

The Spoonbill cannot be mistaken, the round and flattened

Some

termination of its beak at once pointing out the name. times, but rarely, they are found in England. Near Holyhead, a very fine specimen was shot and preserved, in 1832. It was first seen early in May, feeding at low water, in company with

some Herons, on the marine productions left by the tide, but was so shy that some weeks had elapsed before it was killed, at three o'clock in the morning, by a man who had marked its roosting-place on a small rocky island, accessible only on foot at low-water. Another was also killed about this time, at no great distance from the same place. When rising from the ground, it always made several wide circles before getting into full flight. It was very shy, and never could be approached nearer than one hundred yards.

The Flamingo is by far the most striking of these three genera; its scientific name is Phoenicopterus, from two Greek words, signifying "wings of flame," their beautiful carnation colour contrasting with the plumes of the neck and body, which in one species are of delicate white. It is a most extraordinary bird. Its legs are of an excessive length, and so slender, that at a little distance, standing as they usually do, on one alone, it is not easily seen, and the bird appears

Beak of the Flamingo.

as if stationary in the air. But the chief singularity is in the bill, which the annexed figure will explain better than any verbal description. With

this misshapen instrument, it would appear, that the act of collecting food must be an affair of some difficultyan opinion rather confirmed by the still more extraordinary manner in which it feeds. On looking at the plate, it will be seen that, owing to the sudden curvature, or almost broken and deformed appearance of the beak, food,

The Flamingo.

but

collected in the usual way, must naturally drop from the mouth; and so it would, if the bird fed as other birds do; it adopts its own method, by turning its head and scooping up

the soft substances on which it preys, using the upper mandible as a sort of spoon. This would certainly be inconvenient, if not impossible, to other birds; but not to the Flamingo, owing to its remarkably long, slender, and flexible neck. A still greater inconvenience would ensue, if it were under the necessity of sitting on its nest, like other birds; for it would then be utterly impossible to dispose of its long, stilted, disproportioned legs. Nature has, however, met the difficulty, and taught it how to make a nest exactly suited to its form and length of leg. It is made of mud, in the shape of a

hillock, with a cavity on the top where the eggs are laid; and the height of the hillock is such, that she can sit as comfortably on her nest as a horseman does on his saddle, leaving her legs to hang dangling down at full length on either side.

We have alluded to the bright pink and scarlet colours of the Flamingoes, which give them a soldier-like appearance, in addition to further military habits they seem very generally to adopt. Not only do they always assemble in flocks, but they form in long lines of regular rank and file, as well for the Still purpose of fishing, as when they repose on the strand. further after the manner of experienced soldiers, they post