ABSTRACT
To follow the orders of Linnæus, I am next to speak of the birds called Grallæ, which includes Cranes, Storks, Flamingoes, and all those birds that are denominated Waders. They seem to follow naturally enough those who inhabit the water, and to be a sort of amphibious race. Designed by nature to find their sustenance in wet and marshy situations, they are furnished with long legs, feet calculated for walking in water, with a long neck and a long bill: at least most of them are thus equipped; and while many contribute to the food of those that can afford so to be fed, others are useful in devouring the great number of reptiles and insects, which would otherwise infest the inhabitants of marshy countries. The Flamingo, Phœnicopteros, is a bird that derives it’s name from the brilliancy and beauty of it’s colours, that are like flame. Though the body of this creature is less than that of a goose, it’s legs are so long, that it is in height six feet. I know not where I have seen a description of their splendid appearance, wading through the clear and deep water, with only their heads and bodies above it.
