A BOOK OF BIRDS
The Flamingo
The Flamingo is most happy standing on one leg in a foot or two ofwater. There he waits patiently for any fish that may come his way.His colour may be pink or scarlet according to the part of the world inwhich he is born; and when he is standing motionless on the look-out forfish, his red body and long legs give him quite a militaryappearance—like a soldier at attention. The Flamingo prefers a warmclimate, and by moving from place to place he manages to enjoy acontinual summer-time.
The Vulture
The Vulture is a very useful bird, but he would not make a pleasant pet.His home is in the sunny lands of the south, where he is always verybusy in tidying up for Dame Nature. When any poor animal is killed ordies of old age the news seems to spread like magic, for although not asingle bird may be in sight, in the course of a few minutes Vulturescome flocking up from all sides. And they never leave their banquetuntil they have eaten up everything but the bones.
The Magpie
The Magpie is not, as a rule, on good terms with his neighbours. He isvery noisy, very mischievous, and very quarrelsome, and is not abovestealing eggs from the nests of other birds. No doubt he clears thefields of a great number of grubs and slugs, but he does so much damagein the poultry-yard that he always goes the other way when he sees thefarmer coming. His nest is built very cunningly of sticks and clay, andhe surrounds it with sharp thorny twigs to keep out robbers likehimself.
The Penguin
The Penguin is a kind of humpty-dumpty bird. He is far too fat tofly—the best he can do is to waddle. But his fat is very useful tohim, for it is a kind of greatcoat, and helps to keep him warm whilefishing in the bitterly cold waters around the South Pole. There isonly one time, in fact, when the Penguin becomes lean, and that is whenMother and Father are bringing up their family. Then they seem toforget all about themselves, and while the little Penguins grow sleekand podgy, the poor old birds become so scraggy that their best friendsscarcely know them.
The Wren
When the nightingale, the swallow, and many other of our summer visitorsdesert us, the little Wren remains through the long winter to cheer uswith her song. She is a tiny bird, but her song is very loud, andsweet, and clear, and she may often be heard singing gaily even whilethe snow is falling. In the springtime the Wren builds her nest in thewoods, choosing a place as near to the ground as possible, but later inthe year she leaves her sn