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MARK CATESBY (1682-1749)

The Bill of the Flamingo in its full Dimensions

c.1725

RCIN 925909

When Catesby visited the Bahamas in 1725 he would have seen flocks of flamingo. It was unusual for him to depict an isolated part of a creature, and the structure of the flamingo’s beak clearly interested him. He recorded that ‘Nature has provided the edges of their Bill with a Sieve, or Teeth, like those of a fine comb’, which allow flamingos to filter muddy particles out of their food.


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