In Chapter 10 of Alice in Wonderland Alice thinks that pepper is what makes people hot tempered just because pepper adds a hotness to foods. Alice is holding the flamingo because in the croquet game with the queen, the flamingo's are the sticks you hit the balls with. The phrase, "Birds of a feather flock together" means that things with characteristics that are similar go together. A mock turtle is a being with the body of a turle and the head, hooves and tail of a calf, or basically a being put together with body parts of everything used to make mock turtle soup.