[Footnote 1:  Tantalus leucocephalus, and Ibis falcinellus.]

[Footnote 2:  The violet-headed Stork (Ciconia leticocephala).]

[Footnote 3:  Platalea leucorodia, Linn.]

[Footnote 4:  Ardea cinerea.  A. purpurea.]

VII.  ANSERES.—­Preeminent in size and beauty, the tall flamingoes[1], with rose-coloured plumage, line the beach in long files.  The Singhalese have been led, from their colour and their military order, to designate them the “English Soldier birds.”  Nothing can be more startling than the sudden flight of these splendid creatures when alarmed; their strong wings beating the air with a sound like distant thunder; and as they soar over head, the flock which appeared almost white but a moment before, is converted into crimson by the sudden display of the red lining of their wings.  A peculiarity in the beak of this bird has scarcely attracted the attention it merits, as a striking illustration of creative wisdom in adapting the organs of animals to their local necessities.

[Illustration:  FLAMINGO.]

[Footnote 1:  Phoenicopterus roseus, Pallas.]

The upper mandible, which is convex in other birds, is flattened in the flamingo, whilst the lower, instead of being flat, is convex.  To those who have had an opportunity of witnessing the action of the bird in its native haunts, the expediency of this arrangement is at once apparent.  To counteract the extraordinary length of its legs, it is provided with a proportionately long neck, so that in feeding in shallow water the crown of the head becomes inverted and the upper mandible brought into contact with the bottom; where its flattened surface qualifies it for performing the functions of the lower one in birds of the same class; and the edges of both being laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, by the aid of its fleshy tongue, to sift before swallowing its food.

Floating on the surface of the deeper water, are fleets of the Anatidae, the Coromandel teal[1], the Indian hooded gull[2], the Caspian tern, and a countless variety of ducks and smaller fowl—­pintails[3], teal[4], red-crested pochards[5], shovellers[6], and terns.[7] Pelicans[8] in great numbers resort to the mouths of the rivers, taking up their position at sunrise on some projecting rock, from which to dart on the passing fish, and returning far inland at night to their retreats among the trees, which overshadow some solitary river or deserted tank.

[Footnote 1:  Nettapus coromandelianus, Gm.]

[Footnote 2:  Larus brunnicephalus, Jerd.]

[Footnote 3:  Dafila acuta, Linn.]

[Footnote 4:  Querquedula creeca, Linn.]

[Footnote 5:  Fuligula rufina, Pallas.]

[Footnote 6:  Spatula clypeata, Linn.]

[Footnote 7:  Sterna minuta, Linn.]

[Footnote 8:  Pelicanus Philippensis, Gmel.]