Flamingo

A wading-bird of several species. It of is of a brilliant red, and has a long neck and pota ium. legs. In feeding, the head is bent downward and and OE COMMON THINGS 61 so as to reverse the position of the upper he nest is made of mud scratched up '1 or three feet high, and two eggs are hatched, bird standing so as to rest on the tall nest. The flamingo posts sentinels, which give warning danger with trumpet notes. [AS.] A plant about two or three feet in with small pointed leaves and blue flow¬ The stems are hollow, and covered with material. The flowers grow in clusters the top of the stalks, and are succeeded by seed-ve els the size of a pea. Each seed contains ten flat seeds of a brown color. thrives in a rich, moist soil. The leaves drop when the plants are ripe, and the turn yellow. The stalks are up and tied in bundles to dry. are then steeped in water until so that the fibres of the outFLAX-WHEEL. covering or bark can be separated. The fibre flax is spun and woven by machinery into liuen, then bleached by chloride of lime. Flax is in Europe and the United States, where it introduced from England in 1629. Linen, and damask cloth are woven from flax and linseed oil is made from its seeds. [AS.] A small insect without wings that by leaping, and whose bite is troublesome slightly poisonous. The human-flea is in Europe, but rare in America, where dog-flea takes its place. The dog-flea infests and cats, and is occasionally troublesome to [AS., a hard stone.] Amorphous lumps of silica which occur in nodular sheets in chalk other limestones. They often enclose such as shells and sea-urchins; spicules of abound in flint. The proce by which has been formed is uncertain but it is sup; to be due either to the abstraction of silica sea-water by sponges, or to the decomposi¬ of animal remains. Flint-gla is dispersive light, and consists of silicate of lead and It is used for table-ware, and prisms, is called crystal gla . 637 6 2