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The Flamingo.
(Phoenicopterus roseus)
The Flamingo frequents river-mouths, marshes and lagoons near sea-shores of S.W. Asia and India, and the Mediterranean countries of Europe and N. Africa. It feeds upon small worms, shell-fish and vegetable matter, searching mud and sifting through its bill with its long neck immersed deeply in the water, and its head upside down. In this position the upper mandible temporarily becomes the lower, and makes an efficient scoop, while the other acts as a sieve. This explains the extraordinary shape of its beak, which bends downward almost at a right angle. The Flamingo, of course, erects its long neck in order to swallow its food.