El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-04-03
This group taken

! Of their outlandish forms and attitudes
you recognize as birds. whose legs are
like stills. whose necks are like rubber
siphOns, whose beaks are like nothing
in the world and whose bodies flame
with amazing color a light Termillion.
varied with harmonious LlnIs- Away
before YOU. apparently for a mile. the
extraordinary red spectacle stretches,
down 10 the edge Of bay. or lagoon,
beyond which runs a long, curved coast.
backed behind with nodcing palms and
mass OF tropical vegetation High IN
the air a mile long line OF LlamingOes
in flight forms a chain OF great TIL
angles traced against the sky after
the geometrica1 habit OF these queer
birds The realism is astonishing You
have TO search carefully before you can
trace the shadOWy lines where the mod
eIed foreground. with its set figures
blends into the painted background.
and produces an illusion OF profound
perspective, which ought TO teach you
never TO believe your eyes unless their
evidence is corroborated
No doubht a fl1miugo does not seem
20 itself OF 70 its fellow creatures. TO
be freak or a jol19- 1t has a perfect
y natural feeling II it could see its
enormous. scoop shovel beak its wire
drawn legs its little. chucky goose like
body, and its endless twist OF a neck.
in a looking glass il would find moth
ing funny about them at all II stands
on its nest OF dried mud. in shape like
the stump Of a tree. with the greatest
gravity and patience. sometimes on
one leg. sometimes on two and some
times unrolliug its neck and letting its
head down four 10 five feet. TO give
something 70 the baby. or 20 gobble
something from the ground, with the
top OF its head turned downward. on
account Of the curious bend in the big
beak. which looks as il its back were
By careful observation naturalists
are usually able TO discern the reasons
why nature has given such extraOrdi-
nary and fantastic forms TO some OF
her creatures fTrrr-aa
away the impression that she has beer.
IN many cases a rule OF thumb worker.
trying experiments often in very &C.
centric way. and getting at what she
wanted hastily and clumsilv-
Because The flamingO was destined TO
live partly in the water. at least to seek
long wading lees; but those il has re-
celved look as II they had been inserted
as an GfrerthOuEht into the body OF en-
animal at first intended TO be a goose
Having TO SCOOP up its food. little
fishes, worms, cruSraceans. mOllusks.
from water and mud Il had TO have A
shovel beak. but then. what an aWz-
ward looking thing nature made OF il.
And what an undfgnified attitude she
compelled the flamingo to assume I'm
turning its head upzide down in order
very carefully for the mechanical de-
salls- making the wonderful beak like
a sieve. so that the mud AID water can
run, out while the little animals are
The namingo is said to be inter-
mediate in organization between the
duck and The stork There are six
species distributed in warm countries
al over the world. FIamingces were
Iorrnerly very common in Florida They
live IN large communities and breed
In marshes and mud flats. making their
nests OF mud in which the eggs are
laid. and where the female bird matches
them out by sitting on them
The birds migrate i'm flocks. and al
ways 1ly I'm lines having a triangular
shape or that of a string OF triangles.
bow did the birds get that Euclidian
bent- or course il has a purpose. Per
maps the bends in the line enable those
N the rear to keep the leaders more
easily IN view These curving lines OF
hight are almost the only graceful
ming about the flamiuEo except that
Its feathers are attractive
Considering its manner OF feeding IL
seems surprising that the tongue OF
the tlamingO should have been found
IN Roman days 10 be the most exquisite
or table delicacies- The tongue is
armed with extra ordinary sets OF spines
ana looks like the last thing that any
cook would choose for a Cdbit. Yet
Wnen LuCullus or some other ancient
Roman high liver wished TO give a feast
that would be talked about even in luxu-
rlous Rome, he never failed TO furnish
his guests with the best selected
flamingO tongues.