This is one of the most striking birds in its appearance, yet by no means one of the most graceful. Its long legs and neck give it an air of lightness and activity in some of its attitudes, but of awkwardness in others. Still, with its brilliant plumage, which is often a deep red, it arrests the attention, when seen; and hence its name, being called Flaman in French, from the Latin flamma, flame, which the English have altered to Flamingo. The Greeks called it phoenicoptere, in allusion to the same characteristic. These birds have confused ornithologists not a little, by uniting the traits of several orders; for example, they resemble the waders in their long and naked legs, and the swimmers in their webbed feet, while the form of the bill, and their taking their food by bending the head almost to the ground or to the water, and placing the upper bill undermost, distinguishes them from the rest of the winged creation. They feed on insects, shellfish and fish spawn; and hence are usually found frequenting the banks of streams near the sea. They proceed in lines when they enter the water to catch fish, and generally keep their order when they lie down to rest. They are said to station sentinels to watch, when collected in flocks; but this is doubted, as well as some other stories which have been told of them. In the background of our print is seen a flamingo sitting upon her nest, which is built to the height of two or three feet from the ground, because the awkward form of The bird renders it difficult for her to sit upon a level surface. They are frequently seen in the South of France, but do not make their appearance there every season. They are known in some parts of Languedoc by the name of Bec-de charrue, or wheel.beak, from the peculiar form of their bills. There are four species of the genus Flamingo: 1st, The Phoenicoptere of the ancients. 2d, the Red. 3d, the Small. 4th, the Fiery. The first of these is that now known in Europe and in Egypt, whose tongue has been eaten as a great delicacy. Most or all these species are inhabitants of America. The last mentioned abounds in the wide plains of Patagonia, and is seen further north, even to the West Indies. This bird, so rare in our country, is now to be seen in public in this city. We had an opportunity to witness their habits of feeding, the other day, at the Bowling Green, two of them having been placed there, and I ft to enjoy the shade, the water, and the secur ty of the place. While we remained, they busi'y employed themselves in the basin of the fountain, the water being about knee-deep to their legs; and they kept their heads. continually under the surface, and entirely out of sight, except when they withdrew them for a second or two every moment, doubtless to take beath. They evidently placed the curved end of the bill upon the ground, in the awkward manner before mentioned; and the whole appearance of the birds was far from graceful, although the body is well formed, the feathers and quills smoothly laid, and of a delicate pink color. They are far from being of the vivid red of the variety last named in the preceding enumeration, the quills apparen ly being reddish, while the fibres, or feathery fila ments, are nearly white. They have a singular habit of keeping their feet continually in motion while. feeding: lifting them a little in quick. succession, for some reason not easy to conjecture, as they incline to walk slowly round the spot where they keep the bill at work, digging or collecting from the bottom. What they obtained, and appeared to swallow with a good appetite, we could not discover. The slenderness of the limbs, is one of the most striking marks of these bird, and their uniformity in size up to the body. Being quite destitute of feathers, as in many others of their class, the Grallæ, or Wading Birds, they seem to stand upon sticks or wires too feeble for their sup port, and liable to be broken by the first accident. Their necks are indeed long and slender; but three or four times thicker than their legs. The cut preceding will be recog nized by some of our readers. It was inserted in the first volume of our magazine, (page 334.) with the description beneath it. We have thought it well to introduce it again, because many of our readers have not seen it, and the presence of the birds may excite a peculiar interest in their nature at the present time, especially in our city. The Linnæan name of the Flamingo is Phoenicopterus; and Cuvier calls it "one of the most extraordinary and insulated of all birds" that is, one least resembling any other. The following are the leading points in his description. The legs excessively long, the three anterior toes palmated quite to their ends, and the hind one extremely short; the neck quite as long as the legs, and head small. "The lower mandible of the beak is an oval, longitudinally bent into a semicylindrical canal; while the upper one, oblong and flat, is bent crosswise in its middle, so as to join the other exactly. The membraneous fossæ of the nostrils occupy nearly all the side of the part which is behind the transverse fold; and the nostrils themselves are longitudionally slit in the base of the foss." They have, like the ducks, very small, transverse lamine on the sides of the bills, and thick, fleshy tongues. Indeed they might be ranked among the Palmipedes, or web-footed birds, if it were not for their long necks and featherless legs. They feed on shell-fish, insects and the spawn of fishes, which they take by "turning their head on one side, to give more effect to the hook of the upper mandible. They construct their nest of earth, in marshes, placing themselves astride of it to hatch their eggs, a psition to which they are forced to resort, by the length of their legs." The height of the Red Flamingo, according to Cuvier, is from 3 to 4 feet; the color, the first year, ash, with brown streaks; the second year a rosy hue on the wings; and after that age, purple-red on the back, and wings rose-color, with the quills black. The beak is yellow, with a black tip, and the feet are brown. It is found in every part of the Eastern continent below lat. 40°. The American species was named by Temminck Phanicopterus ruber. Important Discoveries in the Western Mounds. We have not mentioned the Ethnological Society of New York for several months; but they have held many interesting meetings. A few weeks ago, Mr. Squier, of Ohio, one of the corresponding members, laid before them a large collection of drawings, maps, and notes, made by him during his recent examinations of the ancient earth-works of the Scioto Valley, together with a variety of objects obtained from some of them in the course of a long, minute, and expensive investigation which he has made. The impressions produced by the exhibition and explanations given by Mr. S. were such, that arrangements were proposed for the speedy publication of a memoir on the subject, by the Society; the President, the Hon. Albert Gallatin, making liberal offers to assist. After two evenings devoted to this subject, Mr. Squier proceeded to New England, and his discoveries were received with great interest in New Haven, Worcester, and Boston. It is expected that a large work will appear in due time, with maps, plans, drawings, &c., and a large amount of minute information on the positions, dimensions, and probable objects of the works. As Mr. S. is a practical surveyor, and proceeded scientifically in all his operations, the utmost reliance may be placed on all his representations. Having been present, and had subsequent interviews with Mr. S., we feel highly gratified at the discoveries he has made, and shall give our readers notice of some few of them. Mr. Squire considers the ancient works under distinct heads, as Mounds or Tumu li, Earth walls, Enclosures, Graded roads, and Dug holes. The Mounds he divides into several kinds-Sepulchral, Defensive, and Observatory or Lookouts. Some of the wall are of great height, and several circular enclosures are connected with or contiguous to squares of equal area. In only a few instances have stones been found laid in the walls. He has excavated about eighty mounds of the different kinds. The Sepulchral have yielded the most return for the labor bestowed, and settled several fundamental points hitherto doubtful. Each was erected over the body of one individual, and that was always placed at the bottom and at the centre. Sometimes it was enclosed in a rude coffin of stones, sometimes covered with plates of isinglass; and usually pipes, beads, spear and arrow heads or other weapons or implements are found among the ashes. Some of these are sculptured with skill in the forms of animals-about 100 varieties having been found, executed in a style far superior to anything found among our Indians. Pottery of a fine and hard quality has been found. Indian graves have been discovered in some of these mounds; but they are easily proved to have been of a comparatively recent date, as they are near the surface, and break a singular kind of stratification, which is observable in a portion of the mounds. For some unknown reason, the makers of those ancient tumuli occasionally spread thin layers of whitish sand over the whole surface when partly finished, and then proceeded with their work. Mr. Squier has had the sagacity to discover this peculiarity, to prove that it was the work of man, and to avail himself of it, in judging of disturbing causes. Thus we seem to have at length obtained something fixed to build upon; the mound-makers were not the present race of Indians; and our attention need no longer be diverted for inquiries of who and whence they came, and what was their fate? JUVENILE DEPARTMENT. EDWARD LEARNING TO SWIM. When the weather began to grow warm, the river looked very attractive to Edward, and his playmates began to talk of going to bathe. Some could swim, and some could not; and usually the former had much to say, when the subject of swimming was introduced, and the latter but little. Edward was, of course, generally among the listeners. He delighted to hear the others tell how far they could swim, how it looked under water when they opened their eyes, and especially how they learned to swim. "Why," said one, "I tried and tried till I could do it." "And I," said another, was sitting one day by the water, and a large boy, who supposed I could swim as well as a party of them at whom I was looking, pushed me in where the water was over my head." "What did you do?" asked Edward, who felt shocked at the idea, as he had a dread of deep water. "Why, I found I must swim or sink, and began to strike out, and finding I did not sink, felt encouraged, and at last worked my way to the shore." One of the first things Edward did when he found himself seated at table with his father and mother, (that is, when he could speak without interrupting any one), was to tell them this story. "That is not a safe way," said his father, "nor a good way. You might be drowned, and you would probably be so much frightened that your dread of the water would be increased. This would make it more difficult for you to learn to swim than you find it now. Follow my directions, and make repeated experiments, and I think you can learn soon. There is this comfort about it-you ever will forget how when you have once learned." His father soon after set out to accompany him to the bathing place; for he had been a good boy both in school and out. "Father," said he, "I think I could swim if I had corks to keep me up, or perhaps if I had a string and you would keep hold of the other end." "I think, and I know," replied his father, "that you could swim if you only thought so; and now let me tell you one thing, and I wish you would try to believe it. I am afraid you will not, because we seldom believe anything enough to act as if we did, until we have found it to be true by trying it. Perhaps if I explain to you once more, what I have before explained, why swimmers do not sink, it may aid you in trying, with confidence in your ability to keep above water, which is necessary to every one. If I believed, as you do, that my head would certainly go under as soon as I took my feet from the bottom, I should be afraid to draw up my feet, and should not kick as I ought. I should never swim any more until I got that notion out of my head. I used to believe so, as you do now, and I never could swim until I believed the contrary." "How did you learn to swim, father?" inquired Edward eagerly. "Do you remember about it?" "Yes, I remember it very well, the time, place, and circumstances. When I was a boy, there was a shady place where the boys used to go to swim, beside a millpond. We could lay our clothes on the branches of a green bush, or the root of an old tree, and walk down to the water on the green grass. The large boys would run and dive in at the deepest place, and often swim across, climb up to the old mill and dive in again. We were glad to wade slowly in the shallow part, put our heads under, an 1, when we could see, turn and try to swim towards the shore. I gradually grew bolder and bolder, knowing I could soon touch the bottom with my hands if I pleased, and found I could strike out, as we called it, several times." "Without touching the bottom ?" "Without touching the bottom." "Well, sir, so can I." "Well, then, you can swim, and you do swim.'' "But, sir, I can't swim far, and I don't get along through the water much, if any, and I don't think I can swim at all." "There is the old difficulty again-you think you can't. Let me tell you you do swim; and now try to believe that you have swum, and can swim again. But I do not believe you will think so until you have swum more.” "Why do you think so, sir?" "Partly because I know how natural it is, and partly because I was so myself." "How did you come to change your mind, sir.” "That is what I intended to tell you. One day I turned my head a little away from the land, and swain farther out than I intended. On looking about, the shore seemed far off, and I thought, It is deep here, I am sure it is. Oh, here is the deep water, of which I have so much dread! I let my feet hang down, but I could feel no bottom; farther-no bottom; farther yetnothing but water! Ugh! thought I, I am going to sink! No, no, I said, I can strike out two or three times, for I have done it, and then I know I can touch the bottom. So I pushed out my hands flat on the top of the water before me, as usual, pressing them slowly downwards and sideways, and that raised my head up a little, while it carried me slowly forward; and then I kicked with both feet, in a slanting, downward direction, which also pushed me upwards and forwards, and on I moved. Then out went my hands again, and down went my feet, and so I moved along till I reached the shallow water and stood on the ground. Boys, said I, I can swim! See me swim! I've been where it is over my head! See me! see me! And in I pushed again, and out I swam; but I did not go very far, for I had not yet got quite all the courage I wanted. However, I swam farther and farther every time, and partly lost my dread of deep water. Indeed, I began to like it, for it felt cooler, and I seemed to myself something like a bird, or as I had felt when I dreamed that I could fly about the room, and down stairs, without touching the floor. "Now, said I, boys, I'm going to swim across the river-I went half way and back, just now, and it is just as easy to swim once across and rest on the other side, and so I did-wooh! wooh! wooh! striking out, and the water running by my ears. Here I am! I've got across Wait a minute, I'm coming back! All this I could have done before. I now believed I could, and before I did not. So it is with you. You have nothing to learn, except that you can now swim." Woman's true greatness.-Who will deny that the superiority in point of discretion is frequently on the side of the female? But a woman forfeits all pretentions to that superiority, the moment she assumes or boasts of it.-Hunter. "Pity the nations."--Who can turn his eyes, without weeping tears of blood, to the fertile soil, the clement air, and the simple inhabitants of the Eastern World, and observe the gifts of nature perverted with a curse, the goodness of Providence thwarted by the cursed lust of power, or more cursed lust of wealth, and the patient uncomplaining Asiatic perishing for hunger in his own luxuriant domain ?—Ib. The true nature of Ambition.-To wade to the temple of fame through a sea of blood, to extract the bubble reputation from widows' tears and the groans of expiring wretches, is worse than contemptible; it is detestable, it is monstrous.—Ib. Solution of Enigma 13, p. 416.-Heron, nuncio, sheen, decree, Hendrick Hudson. Solution of Enigma 14.-Hay, hen, eyry, clear, crane, clan, lay, Henry Clay. THE AMERICAN PENNY MAGAZINE Edited by Theodore Dwight. Is published weekly, at the office of the New York Express, No. 112 Broadway, at 3 cents a number, (16 pages large octavo, or, to subscribers receiving it by mail, and paying in advance, $1 a year. 6 sets for $5 Back numbers can be supplied Postmasters are authorized to remit money. Enclose a One Dollar Bil, without payment of postage, and the work will be sent for the year. The information contained in this work is worth more than silver"-N. Y Observer. "It should be in every family in the country."— N. Y. Baptist Recorder. The New York Methodist Advocate speaks of it in similar terms. Also many other papers. |