“There is another bird,” said Uncle Thomas, “which some naturalists have classed with the Cranes, whose long legs and scarlet plumage cause them to look at a distance like so many soldiers. Mr. Rennie, in his ‘Architecture of Birds,’ mentions that during the French Revolutionary war, when the English were expected to make a descent upon St. Domingo, a negro having perceived, at the distance of some miles, in the direction of the sea, a long file of Flamingos, ranked up and preening their wings, forthwith magnified them into an army of English soldiers. Their long necks were mistaken for shouldered muskets, and their scarlet plumage had suggested the idea of a military costume. The poor fellow accordingly started off to Gonalves, running through the streets, and vociferating that the English were come. Upon this alarm the commandant of the garrison instantly sounded the tocsin, doubled the guards, and sent out a body of men to reconnoitre the invaders; but he soon found, by means of his glass, that it was only a troop of red Flamingos, and the corps of observation marched back to the garrison, rejoicing at their bloodless expedition. During Captain Owen’s voyage, the officers found them so numerous on the coast of Africa, that every shoal was covered with them ‘looking at a distance,’ as they describe them, ‘like large variegated plains, and upon nearer approach resembling files of soldiers. When the sun was shining upon them, nothing could surpass the beauty of their dazzling appearance.’” “They should be called soldier-birds, I think,” said Jane. “They deserve the name,” said Uncle Thomas, “as well from their smart scarlet uniform as from their habits, which seem, from all accounts, to be strictly military. They assemble into large flocks, and while fishing or reposing they form themselves into long lines of regular rank and file, and post sentinels, whose duty it is to give the alarm in case of danger. If any thing suspicious attracts the attention of these watchful guardians, they utter a loud trumpet-like cry, and the whole body marches off in regular order. “There are two other peculiarities about the Flamingo,” continued Uncle Thomas, “of which I must not fail to tell you, they differ so much from those of any other bird. The one is in the construction of the bill, which is crooked in such an extraordinary manner as at first sight to seem a deformity, and to excite wonder as to the mode in which the animal feeds. The wonder soon ceases, however, when we see it in the act of scooping up its food, which consists of the spawn of fishes and other soft substances. It turns its head quite round, so as to have the crown close to the ground, and thus converts its upper mandible into a sort of spoon, which its long and flexible neck easily enables it to do. So serviceable, indeed, is its long neck to it, that on one occasion, when a Flamingo had its leg broken, it continued to walk about by using its neck as a crutch!”